Miraculous Day
by kodencegray
Summary: Miraculous Day marks the anniversary of Ladybug and Chat Noir's first day on the job, so the students dress as Paris' beloved superheroes. A special dance is held for Ladybug and Chat Noir the same night where the two heroes must attend. But how will Marinette and Adrien handle their double-lives on and after Miraculous Day? [Now officially an A.U. set after season 1]
1. Chapter 1: Night Visit

Miraculous Day marks the anniversary of Ladybug and Chat Noir's first day on the job, so the students dress as Paris' beloved superheroes. A special dance is held for Ladybug and Chat Noir the same night where the two heroes must attend. But how will Marinette and Adrien handle their double-lives on and after Miraculous Day? [Now officially an A.U. set after season 1]

*This is Rated T because of the occasional mild profanity and mature mindset*

 **Chapter 1**

"That was exhausting!" Marinette panted to Tikki, "Thank goodness that battle finally ended." She fell back on her bed and let out a heavy sigh. Tikki popped out of Marinette's purse and whirled around in front of her, equally tired out from the earlier fight against one of Hawkmoth's akumatized victims.

Facing Marinette, Tikki added, "At least you captured and purified the akuma," the red kwami rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, "but you could've done without Chat Noir preventing you from transforming at first…"

"Hey! It's not his fault," Marinette huffed, "he got to the battle before I could change and it's a good thing he 'saved' me. It would've been a million times worse if he saw me transform!" Marinette sprawled her arms and legs across her loft bed and Tikki lied down on the bed to the left of Marinette's head. She nuzzled Marinette's cheek before letting out a sigh of exhaustion as well.

"Say, Marinette, what _do_ you think of Chat Noir?" Tikki inquired. It had been a while since the two of them delved into the topic of the masked cat.

"Well, he-" Marinette hesitated before continuing, "he's a good fighter, he's loyal, and smart, I guess…but he's also cocky…and a flirt…" Marinette's voice trailed off as she got lost in thought. Tikki pushed herself off the bed and hovered in front of Marinette's face to look her in the eyes. She gave the blue-haired girl a cheeky grin and crossed her arms. "What is it, Tikki?" Marinette asked.

"Is that it? I feel like you're holding something back," Tikki smiled and nudged Marinette's cheek again. "Do you like him as _more than a partner_ , Marinette?" the bug-like creature winked at her. This was uncharted territory, talking about love interests other than the infamous Adrien Agreste. Marinette's face turned as bright red as her Ladybug suit and she scrambled to get off of her bed and on her feet.

"What? No! Maybe? No!" Marinette cried out, "You're forgetting that I like Adrien, Tikki! I mean, if Adrien wasn't in the picture…what am I saying? Why _wouldn't_ Adrien be in the picture? A world without Adrien in the picture is simply horrible!" Marinette started pacing around her room and scratched the back of her head. Tikki sat on the edge of Marinette's bed and watched below as the fidgeting high schooler broke down into a frenzy.

"Marinette, no need to get all flustered. It was a simple question," Tikki reassured her her sweet, sing-song voice. She flew over to Marinette, who relocated herself to her desk. Marinette swiveled around in her pink chair and plopped her head down in front of her computer. "Are you okay?" Tikki asked her. The bluenette groaned and turned her face to look at Tikki.

"Yeah," Marinette sighed, "it's just been a long day and I'm pretty tired..." She yawned and stretched her arms out to the side before she pushed away from her desk and rolled across the room on her swivel chair. She popped up and strolled over to her changing screen and changed into her pink and white pajamas. Marinette yawned again and lugged herself over to her vanity where she took out her pigtails and began brushing through her hair. Marinette plopped herself down in her swivel chair and maneuvered it back to her desk, in front of her computer.

"Ladybug saves Paris from an akuma attack but Marinette can't save herself from her homework," Marinette grumbled. She reached for her backpack and pulled out her tablet, history textbook, and notebook. Tikki floated up to her chosen and nuzzled where her shoulder met her neck, lying down and playing with Marinette's hair. The Parisian teen set out all of her schoolwork in front of her and began work on it, which seemed like a lot for only the third day of the new school year.

It was close to midnight when Marinette started to doze off until she heard a loud thud on her roof. "Gah!" Marinette jolted up from her desk, sending Tikki flying across the room and landing on her chaise. "Hide, Tikki! I think someone's up there," the blue-haired girl squeaked, pointing to the ceiling. Tikki shook off her surprise at being flung and zoomed into Marinette's pants pocket as she crept up the staircase leading to her bed.

Marinette slowly lifted the hatch that lead outside to her balcony and climbed out, the cool, night air sending goosebumps down her bare arms. She stood frozen in place, eyes wide and mouth agape to see who was standing before her.

His sly grin and shaggy blond hair, his blazing green eyes and his strong stature. Why it was none other than—

"Chat Noir!" she squawked, "Wh-What are you doing here? At my house! At midnight!" Marinette flailed her arms in disbelief and slight frustration.

"Why, hello, little lady," Chat got down on one knee and kissed Marinette's hand, painting a rosy blush across her cheeks for a brief moment. Marinette quickly pulled her hand away and furrowed her brows. She stared at him for a short while, her mind racing with questions. _Why was he here?_ she thought, _Why come to see me? Of all the citizens in Paris?_ _Why does he have to annoy me?_ Marinette was first to break the silence between them.

"So, are you going to tell me what you're doing here?" Marinette impatiently questioned. Cat Noir gracefully jumped to his feet and smirked at her as he ran his gloved hand through his wild hair.

"Am I not allowed to drop by and see how my princess is doing?" Marinette cringed at the nickname he gave her, "Especially after that Rumbleree character almost got you…you're pretty lucky I was there to save you," he flexed his muscles and winked at Marinette.

Rumbleree, as he called himself, was the akumatized truck driver who wanted everyone out of his way so he had a clear road to travel on, tired of traffic and reckless drivers. He picked a fight with anyone in his path, Marinette being one of the many Parisians Rumbleree went after. Before she could transform to stop him, Chat swooped in and carried her far away from the battle before Rumbleree could actually get to Marinette, making Ladybug extra late to the battlefield.

The blue-haired girl was too tired at this point and so late at night to bother playing 'fangirl' with Chat Noir like she had the last time she encountered him as her civilian self, so she remained still, unsure of how to handle the situation.

"Okay …" Marinette stretched her voice, which was unusually high. "But why just appear out of nowhere in the middle of the night? I could have been asleep!" She implied, exasperated and frantic. She didn't want to risk him seeing Tikki, so the sooner she found out what he wanted, the sooner he would leave and she could actually get to sleep.

"Well, you were only doing your homework," the blond purred, "And last time I checked, people don't sleep with their lights on." He jiggled an eyebrow at her and the corners of his mouth curled up into a grin. He pulled out his baton from behind his back and spun it around until it grew to the length of a cane. He proceeded to place it behind his head, resting it on his shoulders and looped his arms over it.

Marinette began panicking, wondering how long he had been watching her. She feared Chat saw her red ladybug kwami flying around her room. Then he would know she was Ladybug—unless he already knew, and that was why he was here right now. There were too many wild assumptions and questions racing through Marinette's sleep-deprived brain that almost anything seemed possible.

"Wh-What, w-were you spying on me?!" she accused, sweat rolling down her back, antsy to find what exactly the cat-boy knew.

He studied her, eying the blue-haired girl up and down, until he chuckled to himself, "Is this an interrogation?" Chat Noir shifted his weight to the side and chortled, gripping onto his staff a bit tighter.

Marinette looked furious as he laughed at her bubbling concern. She fiddled with the ends of her hair, realizing it was still down and that she was in fact, in her pajamas...braless. She was standing before Chat Noir with her hair all disheveled and down, in her pajamas, with no makeup on and no bra. Marinette was quick to cross her arms to cover her chest before that kitty got any ideas on sneaking a peek.

"You…saw…you…didn't see…um…" Marinette stuttered as she twisted her hair with her trembling fingers, "You didn't happen to see my kw-OW!" the bluenette yelped and jumped back a couple steps after being Tikki pinched her leg from inside Marinette's pocket. She forgot the kwami was nestled in there after being so used to having Tikki hide her purse. Marinette read between the lines and figured out that Tikki didn't want her to tell Chat Noir, in case he didn't know, something Marinette would have never done had she been well rested and not all punchy from barely catching a wink. _Better safe than sorry_ , Marinette heard Tikki's voice echoing in her mind.

"Are you okay?" Marinette snapped back to reality when she heard Chat's voice. He cocked his head to the side, appearing genuinely concerned for her well-being.

"Ah…yep! Y-Yeah, all's _good in the hood…_ heh…" Marinette jittered, thinking of an excuse for her outburst, "I just um…fell…today, yeah, that's it! And my…shoulder…has been spasming," Marinette spewed the words out almost too quickly, but she hoped that her partner bought her story. She sealed the deal with a wide, toothy smile and over-exaggeratedly rubbing her shoulder, pretending it hurt.

"Well, you know," his voice lowered yet softened, "I give the _best_ shoulder rubs—ask anyone," Chat Noir smirked. He spun his staff around from behind his head, resting one end on the ground and resting his arms on the other end. He leaned in closer to Marinette and in a hushed voice, whispered, "What do you say, _Purr_ -incess?" He flashed her one of his signature crooked grins.

"I-uh-I-" Marinette choked on her words, surprised at Chat's sudden gesture, "Yeah, right! Go home, Chat Noir," she giggled as she started to usher him off of her balcony. When he didn't respond, Marinette studied him, noticing how his demeanor changed when she mentioned "home".

Chat Noir was lost in thought, thinking about his home life and how he didn't want to go back to it—not just yet, at least. "Sorry, Marinette," the blond sighed, he scratched the back of his head with his gloved hand, "I, um, don't really have a home to go back to," he fibbed as he crossed his arms and bowed his head. It was sort of true, though, he really _didn't_ have a home. Chat Noir had a house where he lived, but not a home. He had only a broken home, but he didn't want Marinette to know that, so a white lie couldn't hurt.

"Oh," Marinette's eyes grew wide at the new discovery. The air became heavy between them and deafening silence danced throughout it. "I didn't know. I'm sorry, Chat," the bluenette was unaware how close they had gotten to each other until their elbows brushed against one another's. Breaking the silence, Marinette piped up, "Do you want something from the bakery?"

Chat Noir's eyes lit up with glee and nodded, flabbergasted at Marinette's kindness. "You know," he began, "Once you feed a stray cat, you have a hard time getting rid of him," he winked.

"That better not be the case with you," Marinette muttered.

.

.

.

Chat Noir was leaning against the staircase next to Marinette's desk where she was slaving away on her history homework. She had to write a short essay on a current event and Chat convinced her to write about him saving her from the akumatized victim earlier. It was easy enough, after all, he _was_ right there, nibbling on a croissant.

Marinette hoped her parents didn't hear her sneaking into the bakery to get Cat Noir something to eat. The only copious baked goods they had were croissants, so Marinette swiped one thinking it would be hardly noticeable if one was missing. She felt bad for leaving the cat-boy on her balcony while she got the pastry, but used the time to remove the posters of Adrien she had plastered on her bedroom walls and the countless photographs she had littered around her room. She didn't need Chat Noir mocking her about her high school crush, or telling Adrien about it, for that matter.

"So," Chat Noir began, crumbs falling from the corners of his mouth, "What do you need to know?" He flashed Marinette a cheeky grin, cheeks full of buttery bread. Marinette rolled her eyes at him, but realized she was acting too much like the way Ladybug does with Cat Noir. She forced a smile as she sat up straighter in her chair, clutching her notebook and pencil.

"Well…um…how about we start with what happened during the battle?" Marinette suggested in a shy voice, "Like, um, what happened _after_ you…you…you know…" Marinette didn't want to say it, mostly because she didn't need saving when Chat Noir did just that. However, she was grateful for the unwanted assistance he gave her, had he not slowed down her transformation into Ladybug. It showed her how caring that silly alley cat could be with getting innocent bystanders to safety.

"…saved your life?" Cat finished the blue-haired girl's sentence with a look of satisfaction. He continued to stuff his face with the croissant, cupping his free hand under his chin to catch the falling crumbs. Something about his mannerisms when eating was oddly familiar to Marinette; maybe she'd seen him do that before on patrol? No, they never really ate together when they were suited up. It didn't matter, she just needed to focus on getting that assignment finished.

"Yeah, sure," Marinette stammered, "Why don't you walk me through the battle and I'll take notes?" She didn't need Chat to retell the fight—she lived it just under two hours ago! Of course, Marinette couldn't tell him that; revealing identities was definitely _not_ on the list of things to do tonight.

The black-clad hero rambled on about how he and Ladybug fought Rumbleree outside the park by streetlamp light. Battling Hawkmoth's victims always seemed more challenging and dangerous at night—Marinette can recall several instances, one in particular being when Chat Noir and her civilian self had teamed up against the Evillustrator. Marinette nodded along as Chat continued retelling the story of the battle between the two superheroes and Rumbleree, jotting down notes and mentally correcting the details he got mixed up.

"I think that about does it, Marinette," Chat Noir exclaimed, smiling at her after finishing the croissant. "Thanks, again, for the snack. A superhero, like myself, has to eat to keep his energy up," the blond grinned. Marinette rolled her eyes at his cockiness with a small smile and glanced at her clock. It was past two in the morning, meaning she would have to get up for school in less than five hours.

"Oh, gosh! I didn't realize how late it had gotten," Marinette squeaked, flailing her arms in a frenzy. "Thanks a bunch for helping with my assignment, you really didn't have to—especially after you, well…came to my rescue. I'm not saying I'm not grateful for that, which I am…grateful, that is. But you didn't have to take your time to check on me and practically do my homework for me, is what I mean to say. But then again I _did_ give you the pastry, but, of course, a croissant doesn't amount to—GAH!" Marinette was cut off from her babbling when she felt another pinch from Tikki, still in her pocket. She took the hint to stop flabbing her gums and let out a weak giggle. "Shoulder spasms," Marinette insisted; at least Chat Noir went along with it.

"It's no problem, Marinette," the cat-boy said in a hushed voice, remembering her parents were downstairs sleeping. "And hey, maybe next visit there'll be time for that shoulder rub," Chat smirked, gesturing to her shoulder. He chuckled to himself, giving a salute to Marinette as he turned and headed for the window above her chaise. He pushed the glass window open, letting a cool night breeze flow in and linger around Marinette's room. Chat Noir pulled himself up and sat in the frame with one leg still dangling in Marinette's bedroom. "Goodnight, _purr_ -incess," Chat chimed, his brilliant green eyes sparkling in the moonlight "By the way, your hair looks nice down," he added with a wink before lunging from the window sill.

Marinette watched as the blond leapt away in the dark of the Parisian night, bounding across rooftops with his staff. She still couldn't believe that he came to visit her as Marinette. What if he _had_ seen Tikki? Or worse, Marinette transform into or back from Ladybug! What if that's the real reason he came to see her? All of these "what-if's" continued to swim through Marinette's tired, boggled mind.

"Okay, I think you've had enough excitement for one night," Tikki chirped, zipping out of her hiding spot and before Marinette's bluebell eyes. "Off to bed, now, you have school tomorrow!"


	2. Chapter 2: Copy Cats

Hello beautiful people! I want to thank you all so much for liking my first fanfic so much! I really appreciate it, too. I originally wrote this just for the heck of it, but I was convinced to post it and given the positive feedback, I'm glad I did. Enjoy Chapter 2 :3

 **Chapter 2**

"Marinette! Wake up! You're gonna be late for school!" Marinette heard a dainty voice squeaking. "MARINETTE!" Tikki shrilled in her right ear. The blue-haired girl jolted up screaming as she tumbled out of the sheets in her loft bed, right before the stairs leading down. She scrambled to her feet and started to head for the steps, only her foot was still twisted in the pink sheets causing her to trip and fall flat on her face. Marinette moaned in pain before shaking off the bedsheets and popping up off the floor.

Marinette looked up at Tikki and let out a nervous giggle as she rubbed the back of her head. She hurriedly descended the staircase and was caught off guard when Tikki tossed Marinette her vibrating phone, the screen illuminated with a picture of Alya. Marinette nearly missed the smartphone flying at her, but as luck would have it, she managed it catch her cellphone. "You know, I _did_ tell you to go to bed," Tikki said in a condescending tone, "but you just had to stay up and doodle in your sketchbook."

Marinette squinted at the kwami and grumbled to herself that they weren't doodles, but rather some new designs, before answering her best friend's call. The petite kwami zipped over to Marinette, standing in front of the vanity.

"Hey, Alya! What's up?" Marinette answered, putting her phone to speaker so Tikki could listen. The bug kwami liked to pretend to be part of conversations with others since she only got to talk to Marinette. The porcelain girl picked up her brush as well as two red hairbands and got to work on arranging the blue-ish/black mop she calls hair into her signature pigtails.

"Girl, where are you? I can't wait to see your costume!" Alya squealed, Marinette could hear the smile on her face. "You _are_ Ladybug, aren't you?"

"Yeah, I know, I'm almost to the school-" Marinette fibbed before she could process the last of Alya's words, "-wait, _what_?" Marinette screeched. Her eyes grew wide, she refused to take a breath of air, her heart pounded, sweat rolled down the sides of her face. _How does she know I'm Ladybug?_ Marinette silently panicked, _When did she find out?_ Marinette gripped her phone tightly, fearing she may drop it, and her fingers trembled. Her freckled face frantically looked to Tikki who appeared just as shaken by what Alya implied.

"You know, your costume," Alya retorted, "Don't tell me you forgot it's Miraculous Day…did you? I swear, Marinette, if you aren't in costume, I'm gonna-"

"Oh! N-no, I didn't _forget_ ," Marinette replied while glancing at her calendar and sure enough, today was her and Chat Noir's anniversary of when they first stopped an akumatized victim. Exactly one year ago today, Marinette was chosen to be the holder of the ladybug miraculous and befriended her kwami, Tikki. How could she have forgotten? Alya, being the determined Ladybug fan she was, convinced Mr. Damocles to have everyone at school dress up as Paris' superheroes for the day.

"Okay…I'm going to pretend that I believe you," Alya jokingly remarked, "So, when will you get here? I'm sure you'd _love_ to see Adrien in a skin-tight suit," Alya cooed, "Maybe that'll be enough motivation for you to get your butt here ASAP!" Marinette heard Alya's giggling at her lack of response. She probably thought her best friend passed out at the thought of her crush actually in a skin-tight outfit.

Marinette felt her cheeks grow warm and redden at her friend's 'motivational speaking'. She stepped away from the mirror, she didn't need to see how goofy she looked with bright red cheeks.

"I-I-wha-uh-um-I-uh," Marinette stammered, struggling to form a sentence so she wouldn't sound like a complete loser over the phone. But the image of Adrien dressed in a suit snuggly fit to his beautiful form… _no_! Marinette wouldn't let the thought render her brain utterly useless and her tongue unable to speak French. "I'll be there in a few minutes!" Marinette squeaked before hanging up and tossing her phone on her desk.

The phone bumped the mouse to her computer, causing the screen to flicker on, revealing her desktop background of Adrien. Marinette's blush deepened as she gazed longingly at the perfect photos of the perfect boy with perfect peridot eyes and perfect golden hair. She swore she was drooling, and it wasn't even really him—well it _was_ him, but just a few photos. The bluenette could only imagine what would happen when she saw him at school in a suit that hugged him tautly like Alya said.

"Marinette? Hello? You in there?" Marinette fixed her eyes on the red bug-like creature floating before her and looked down sheepishly at her feet, "Don't you think you should get ready now?" Tikki gestured to Marinette's closet where her costume was residing. She had made it a week or so ago in preparation for today so she wouldn't rush to finish it at the last minute.

"Oh, um, Tikki…" Marinette piped up, "Do you think I could transform into Ladybug to get to school on time? I told Alya I'd be there in a few minutes and there's no way Marinette will get there in that time," Marinette flashed Tikki a toothy grin.

"The school is right across the street from the bakery," Tikki pointed out obviously.

"I know, but I still have to get ready and walking all that way and looping around the walkway and—it'll take way longer…so could I transform to get there on time? Please?" Marinette looked hopefully at her kwami, eyes pleading and hands clasped together at her chest.

"Very well," Tikki sighed only to quickly slap on a cheery face, "Just this once. I don't want you getting used to the idea that you can use the miraculous like this whenever you oversleep!"

"I _promise_ I won't!" she fair-skinned girl hollered as she went to get changed.

.

.

.

Marinette sprinted up the stairs and down the hall to get to her literature class before the bell rang. She told Alya a few minutes, but even as Ladybug, swinging over to the school with her yo-yo after getting ready took the bluenette closer to ten minutes before she finally reached the school. Had Marinette not been used to the workout she gets as Ladybug, she probably would have been out of breath by the time she arrived at the classroom from all the running.

The Parisian teen hesitated before turning the corner to her first period class. _What if Adrien thinks-_ before Marinette could finish her thought, she felt a gentle shove from Tikki on her back. While it was gentle, there was still enough force behind the push to place her in the doorframe of the classroom.

Marinette gaped at the sea of red with black spots that occupied the room. The first face the bluenette laid eyes on was her best friend Alya, who was jogging towards her.

" _Marinette_?" Alya marveled in disbelief at her best friend. She was wearing a make-shift Ladybug costume consisting of a red button-up shirt and red leggings with black spots painted on, but instead of a mask, Alya decorated her glasses with ladybug print tape coiled around the frames. While her outfit was obviously 'Ladybug', it was also obviously 'Alya'.

"Y-Yeah," Marinette answered, "I'm so sorry I'm late, well, I mean I'm technically not late because the bell didn't-"

"Whoa, girl," Alya spoke in an awed voice, cutting off her friend's rambling, "I'm not even mad, look at you! You went all out!" Marinette bashfully grinned at the brunette's compliments, but her words caught the attention of several other students, including Adrien. Suddenly, Marinette was cornered by a small group of classmates at the entrance.

"Wow, Marinette, that's an awesome Chat Noir costume," the model beamed.

Adrien, for the most part, couldn't believe someone actually dressed as him for Miraculous Day. He was sure everyone would dress as Ladybug, even he dressed as his lady. Marinette's costume, though, was so detailed and realistic to his actual suit—for all he knew, she could've taken his miraculous and literally became Chat Noir for the day.

A warm and rosy blush swiped across Marinette's face. Adrien freaking Agreste complimented her. _Her_. When Marinette's heart stopped fluttering, she noticed Adrien was wearing a high-quality, skin-tight—just as Alya had said—Ladybug suit, complete with clip-on earrings and a yo-yo. God, how she wanted nothing but to stare at him and how the fabric contoured his muscular, yet lean, model figure.

"Don't you mean _claw_ -some, M'Lady?" Marinette winked at Adrien and immediately froze in realization at the words that just trickled off her tongue. Why had she let that stupid alley cat rub off on her? Marinette's blush deepened, but not before Adrien's. She knew he would think she was a total loser for sure, and all hope of them getting married, having three kids and several hamsters, and growing old together was certainly out the window.

Much to her surprise, the blond responded with, "Silly kitty," and a wink. _He winked at her._ Marinette was unsure how her body hadn't totally shut down at this point. On top of everything else, Adrien was dressed as _her_ , well, her alter-ego to be exact.

The warning bell rang, letting everyone know they had one minute before classes officially started. With one look around the room, Marinette observed all of the make-shift Ladybug costumes. The bluenette made her way through the small crowd of people with Alya, receiving countless comments and compliments from all of the "Ladybugs" regarding her homemade superhero suit. She didn't know whether she liked the attention or not being that she didn't attract this much attention as her civilian self.

As Marinette strolled away, the blond boy couldn't help but gaze at her in his costume. She looked good in it too; she never wore tight clothing, so seeing her dressed in fabrics that hugged her skin really defined her muscles and long legs. Her figure somewhat reminded Adrien of someone…

"Yo, dude, you in there, bro?" Nino snapped his fingers in front of Adrien's eyes, waking him out of his trance. Nino wore a puzzled look, wondering what had gotten into his model friend, as he plopped down in his usual seat in front of Alya. Nino wore a red and black spotted t-shirt and a red baseball cap with taped on black circles of construction paper. No one's representations of Ladybug's costume met Adrien's, though.

Adrien's stare continued to follow Marinette as she took her seat next to Alya, wondering why she chose to dress as his alter ego instead of the famous superheroine. Marinette caught his gaze and the two blushed when their eyes met, their cheeks growing warm and as red as Nathanael's tomato hair. Marinette quickly glanced down at her desk out of embarrassment, thinking Adrien was silently mocking her for being the only Chat Noir in the room. What she didn't know was that Adrien felt touched that she took the time to make a Chat costume, which was a spot on replica and even had his persona down when she did her impression of him. Could she really have gotten all that from their run-ins? Eventually Adrien's gawking came to a close and he filled his seat.

Alya elbowed Marinette repetitively in the ribs, to which the black-clad girl responded with a yelp. "Girl!" the brunette whisper-shouted, "Adrien was _totally_ checking you out!" The color drained from Marinette's face as she looked down at the blond model who sat in front of her. She didn't know it was possible for her cheeks to redden even further. Marinette buried her face in her hands, embarrassment overwhelming her after Alya's words rang in her ears.

Adrien was feeling just as abashed as Marinette was, who sitting directly behind him. He couldn't help but feel her blue eyes on him, making him his face dust pink and hang his head low.

"Yo, dude, what was that about?" Nino whispered, gently punching Adrien's shoulder.

"Wh-What?" Adrien stammered, not making eye contact with his best bud.

"Pfft, dude, you were _totally_ gawking over Marinette!" Nino exclaimed. Adrien perked up, looking Nino right in the eye, not realizing a blush as red as his costume tinted his cheeks. "I think you might have been drooling too!" Nino chuckled as he saw his friend's eyes widen.

"Shut up…" Adrien grumbled, burying his burning face in his gloved hands.

For the rest of class, Adrien couldn't keep his thoughts from lingering back to Marinette. He was truly awestruck that she put forth the effort to make a perfect copy of his super-suit. The way the black fabric fit tightly around her curves and…no! He couldn't think of sweet, shy Marinette in _that_ way—especially when those kinds of thoughts were reserved for his lady. But there was something about Marinette in a skin-tight superhero outfit that was so familiar, but the blond simply couldn't put his finger on it.

 **I would love to hear what you have to say about the story, whether it be what you like, what you don't like, or what you want to see happen. Thank you!**


	3. Chapter 2: Alternate Ending

Hello beautiful people! Thank you so much for the continued support! While I'm working on Chapter 3, I thought I'd write a quick alternate ending to Chapter 2. This has nothing to do with the actual story, just a different direction "Miraculous Day" could have gone in. Enjoy!

 **Chapter 2 - Alternate Ending**

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Marinette sprinted up the stairs and down the hall to get to her literature class before the bell rang. She told Alya a few minutes, but even as Ladybug, swinging over to the school with her yo-yo after getting ready took the bluenette closer to ten minutes before she finally reached the school. Had Marinette not been used to the workout she gets as Ladybug, she probably would have been out of breath by the time she arrived at the classroom from all the running.

The Parisian teen hesitated before turning the corner to her first period class. _What if Adrien thinks-_ before Marinette could finish her thought, she felt a gentle shove from Tikki on her back. While it was gentle, there was still enough force behind the push to place her in the doorframe of the classroom.

Marinette gaped at the sea of red with black spots that occupied the room. The first face the bluenette laid eyes on was her best friend Alya, who was jogging towards her.

" _Marinette_?" Alya marveled in disbelief at her best friend. She was wearing a make-shift Ladybug costume consisting of a red button-up shirt and red leggings with black spots painted on, but instead of a mask, Alya decorated her glasses with ladybug print tape coiled around the frames. While her outfit was obviously 'Ladybug', it was also obviously 'Alya'.

"Y-Yeah," Marinette answered, "I'm so sorry I'm late, well, I mean I'm technically not late because the bell didn't-"

"Whoa, girl," Alya spoke in an awed voice, cutting off her friend's rambling, "I'm not even mad, look at you! You went all out!" Marinette bashfully grinned at the brunette's compliments, but her words caught the attention of several other students, including Adrien. Suddenly, Marinette was cornered by a small group of classmates at the entrance.

"Wow, Marinette, that's an awesome Chat Noir costume," the model beamed.

Adrien, for the most part, couldn't believe someone actually dressed as him for Miraculous Day. He was sure everyone would dress as Ladybug, even he dressed as his lady. Marinette's costume, though, was so detailed and realistic to his actual suit—for all he knew, she could've taken his miraculous and literally became Chat Noir for the day.

A warm and rosy blush swiped across Marinette's face. Adrien freaking Agreste complimented her. _Her_. When Marinette's heart stopped fluttering, she noticed Adrien was wearing a high-quality, skin-tight—just as Alya had said—Ladybug suit, complete with clip-on earrings and a yo-yo. God, how she wanted nothing but to stare at him and how the fabric contoured his muscular, yet lean, model figure.

"Don't you mean _claw_ -some, M'Lady?" Marinette winked at Adrien and immediately froze in realization at the words that just trickled off her tongue. Why had she let that stupid alley cat rub off on her? Marinette's blush deepened, but not before Adrien's. She knew he would think she was a total loser for sure, and all hope of them getting married, having three kids and several hamsters, and growing old together was certainly out the window.

Much to her surprise, the blond responded with, "Silly kitty," and a wink. _He winked at her._ Marinette was unsure how her body hadn't totally shut down at this point. On top of everything else, Adrien was dressed as _her_ , well, her alter-ego to be exact.

"I, uh, your costume like me, too. Wait, I mean I like you, too. _No_! I, um," Marinette stammered as she thought of what to say back, _Why can't I just mean what I say? Ugh, say what I mean_ , "I mean, your costume is spot on, Adrien."

A blush took to Marinette's face, but not before her kwami, Tikki, zipped out of her bag and popped into the ladybug miraculous earrings Marinette wore. A flash of blinding pink light blinded those around her and caught the attention of the rest of students in the classroom.

The high schoolers gaped at the sight of Marinette's homemade, black cat costume being replaced by an indestructible, magic Ladybug suit. The bluenette couldn't find it in herself to breathe, she stood frozen in place, she wanted to run, but her legs wouldn't allow it. She looked around the room at her classmates and matched their wide-eyed gaze. She began panicking, there was no backing out of this, no reversing what happened over the course of one minute. Tears lined the rims of Marinette's eyes, but she wouldn't give them the satisfaction of seeing her break down and cry, so she fought the tears back. After all, Ladybug never cried in front of people.

" _Girl_ …" Alya was the first to speak up, "You got some explaining to do," Alya remarked with her usual sass as she strolled up to Ladybug and put an arm around her shoulder.

"Oh. My. God," Adrien breathed, "Ladybug! It's you!" Ladybug blushed at the blond's remark, "Hey, wait a minute…where did Marinette go?"

The entire class turned their heads to stare at the model, giving him cocked eyebrows and frustrated expressions of disbelief and annoyance.

" _Really?_ " the class uttered in unison, rolling their eyes and scoffing at Adrien.

"…What?"

 **Because this is an alternate ending, the next update will be a double chapter :3 If you have any ideas for alternate endings to chapters in the future, don't hesitate let me know in the reviews. Until next chapter, toodles! :D**


	4. Chapters 3 & 4: Something

Hello beautiful people! I'm so sorry this chapter is a tad late—my computer decided to be stupid and deleted the file that had Chapters 3 and 4 (tragic, right?), so I had to completely rewrite them. Because of my "Alternate Ending", Chapter 3 would have shown up as Chapter 4, then the future chapters wouldn't line up, and it would annoy me. So, I'm giving you Chapters 3 and 4 as a double chapter. Thank you again for the continual support with this story, so enjoy! :3

 **Chapter 3**

"You're going to the dance tonight, right?" the brunette in ladybug glasses asked her best friend eagerly. The bell rang, signaling that first period ended and homeroom, or free period, was starting.

"I don't know, Alya," Marinette mumbled as she gathered her belongings strewn about her desk area to pack up. "A big celebration to honor Ladybug and Chat Noir seems kinda…well…not my scene," the blue-haired girl shrugged.

Paris was throwing the Miraculous Day Dance to celebrate the city's favorite superhero duo later that evening. It was originally going to be held under the Eiffel Tower, but because of the inclement weather predicted for tonight, the dance was moved to the school's gym— _how elegant_. Mayor Bourgeois was the main person funding the party, most likely because his bratty daughter, Chloe, a die-hard Ladybug fan, begged him to.

"Oh, come on, Marinette!" Alya pleaded, "Ladybug and Chat Noir will be there!" And that is exactly why Marinette _didn't_ want to go as Marinette; she already had to make an appearance as Ladybug and Chat was counting on her to be there, so it'd be impossible for her to be both Marinette _and_ Ladybug. She'd watched enough TV to know that sort of thing never worked out.

"I already gave you my answer: no. I'm sorry, but I need to help out at the bakery," Marinette fibbed as she shoved her remaining notebooks in her backpack. Come to think of it, she used the excuse of her parents needing her in the family bakery too often that it might've been getting suspicious.

"Your parents will understand. It's freaking Ladybug and Chat Noir!" Alya shrilled, catching the attention of Nino and Adrien, who were also discussing their plans for the dance. The blond spun around in his seat and looked up at Marinette, who was clad in black. His emerald eyes dazzled when they met Marinette's line of sight, but it only caused her to flush red and glance away.

"What about Ladybug and Chat Noir?" the model inquired, switching his focus over to Alya.

"Oh, just how they'll be at the dance and open to answering questions. I hope I get an interview with them—behind the masks!" Alya beamed, "O.M.G. What if I find out who they are under the masks? That'd be such a scoop for the Ladyblog!"

Both the model and designer cringed at the idea of their reporter friend unearthing their identities. Marinette was used to her best friend raving about the two superheroes, more so Ladybug than Chat Noir, so she was able to tune her out. That is, until the bluenette felt a jab on her shoulder and came back to the conversation.

"Marinette, here, doesn't want to go. Yeah, says she's 'too busy'," Alya used air quotes around the words to make it seem as if Marinette was lying...which she _was_ , but that was beside the point, "Maybe it's just because she doesn't have a date?" Alya jiggled her eyebrows at Marinette mischievously. "Say, Adrien," oh God, Marinette knew what Alya was going to say, but couldn't stop her from finishing her sentence, "Would you wanna take Marinette to the dance?"

Dead. That was what Marinette was. Dead. The color drained from her face in a matter of seconds. She couldn't move—wouldn't move a muscle. A wave of embarrassment struck Marinette as her cheeks grew warm and pink for the hundredth time. Marinette was grateful that her mask shielded most of her face, hiding her blush, but that didn't change her urge to strangle Alya.

Adrien tensed as well, his eyes frantically darting around the classroom and his sun-kissed face burned almost as scarlet as his suit. He clenched his fists as sweat rolled down his back and the sides of his face like a leaky faucet.

"I, um…" Adrien muttered as he flushed a brilliant shade of red. He glanced at Marinette and noticed that she, too, was just as flustered and abash as he was. He couldn't say 'yes' because he had to be Chat Noir for the night and he had to meet his lady. But, he couldn't say 'no' to sweet, shy Marinette and reject her, it wasn't in his nature to do something like that. Adrien was torn with no clue how to approach his current situation.

"My bud, Adrien, wasn't planning on going, either," Nino directed to Alya as he swung an arm around the blond's shoulder. "It'd be perfect, though, for all four of us to go as, like, double dates or whatever."

"What do you mean by 'double dates'?" Alya questioned the DJ, "Last time I checked, I wasn't going with anyone," she folded her arms and squinted at at Nino, sending a message to him with her deadly glare.

"Oh, _shoot_!" Nino face-palmed himself, "I totally forgot to ask you to the dance!"

"Nino!" Alya shrieked, pushing herself out of her booth seat and marching down to face the now terror-stricken boy.

"I'm sorry, i-it slipped my mind. Like I _meant_ to ask you a-and everything, I s-swear!" Nino pleaded.

"You, _the guy_ , are supposed to ask me, _the girl_ , at least a week in advance!" Alya pointed an accusatory finger in his face, mere millimeters away from the frames of his glasses. Nino swallowed hard, a lump of fear residing in his throat. Yeah, he had a thing for Alya, but that didn't mean she didn't scare the living daylights out of him at times.

"Well, I-I just assumed-"

" _Assumed_?"

"But, like, Adrien asked Marinette today, so-"

"Um," Adrien cut in, interrupting the forceful exchange, "I technically didn't ask-"

"Zip your lips, Agreste! No comments from the peanut gallery!" Alya fired back, glaring her hazel eyes at the model. She was definitely in that mood where he didn't want to anger her further. Adrien had never bored witness to one of her episodes that his best bud described before, and was thankful it was Nino who triggered it and not himself.

The two continued to banter like an old married couple, even though the brunette contributed to 80% of the bickering. They were so made for each other…

"So, uh, Marinette," Marinette tore her eyes away from the scene Nino and Alya—more so Alya—were making to see Adrien, enveloped in red fabrics, hovering next to her. Up close, she got a better look at the fine detail in his costume and it looked just as well made as her Chat Noir suit. Marinette realized she was staring at his body for too long and quickly jerked her eyes up to his face where she was met with Adrien's bashful smile. "Would you, uh…would you like, um…," Adrien struggled to pop the question to Marinette, "Would you like to go to the dance with me?"

Marinette didn't answer right away, just blankly stared at the beautiful boy who stood before her. The remnants of his words were swimming in her ears as she processed what just happened. She couldn't say 'yes' because she had to be there as Ladybug and doubling as Marinette would be far too tricky…impossible, more like. On the other hand, she couldn't say 'no' to her crush; how many times would this opportunity come rolling by again?

"Uh…yeah, sure! Why not?" Marinette finally said with just a touch too much of excitement.

She was lost in her thoughts of regret and remorse for accepting Adrien's invitation. Of course, she would have to whip up another dress for her civilian self to wear. She had already made a ladybug print dress with a mask and pair of gloves to match, but that was weeks ago and she still had to put the final touches on it. A whole new dress in five hours, though, would be cutting it close; luckily, Marinette already had a design in mind.

The bluenette hadn't noticed Adrien plopped himself down in the booth seat next to her, their hips and thighs pressing together. Marinette squeaked in surprise as a blush dusted across her cheeks yet again. She quickly scooched away, creating a gap between her and the boy with blazing green eyes. It wasn't that Marinette didn't like the feeling of Adrien touching her, she loved it, in fact; but, she felt that if their bodies had been in contact for another second longer, she would pass out from overheating.

 _Nice going, Agreste, you spooked her_ , Adrien scolded himself, _No wonder she's scared of you!_ Adrien assumed that the reason Marinette always jumped when he was around and could never speak to him was because she was afraid of him. Perhaps inviting her to the dance wasn't the best idea after all…

"Sorry, I should've asked before just…sitting down," Adrien rubbed the back of his neck, and nervously chuckled to ease the tension between them.

"Oh! N-No, it's okay," Marinette replied, her voice shaky from embarrassment.

"I didn't take you for a Chat Noir fan," he smirked, leaning one elbow on the desk and smiling warmly at the girl with bluebell eyes; bluebell eyes that reminded him so much of his Ladybug. Marinette wore a puzzled look on her face for a moment before he gestured to her costume and she realized what he was referring to.

"Pfft, no, I wouldn't call myself a 'fan' of his, it's just…" Marinette paused before continuing, choosing her words carefully, "He doesn't get the credit he deserves, you know? Like, he's just as important as Ladybug but people seem to forget that, thinking he's just a sidekick—which he's not! He is her _partner_ , her equal, and most battles wouldn't have been won without him. He's loyal, smart, a good—no, _great_ fighter. And yeah, he's a pun-spewing kitty, but he's…he's caring and sweet. He needs to be recognized as the brave, amazing hero that he is, just like Ladybug. I mean, at times she doesn't even deserve to have him as her partner and-"

"Hey, I get it," Adrien put an end to his friend's ranting with an assuring smile and holding onto her shoulders with his red and spotted, gloved hands. He gazed into her eyes, a blue sky meeting a field of green. Marinette found his stare entrancing, and somewhat intimidating, but she…liked it?

Marinette wondered what he meant by 'I get it'; she never saw the two together, so how would he know Chat enough outside the media to 'get it'? Apart from being Ladybug, Marinette knew this because of her team-up with Chat Noir…and the unexpected visit from him last night. She let the thought slide off her shoulders at the same time that Adrien reeled back his gentle hands from her shoulders, making Marinette instantly miss the warmth from his touch.

"But, what about you?" Marinette blushed, breaking the eye contact between them, "Why dress as Ladybug?" A faint smile took to Marinette's lips at the thought that maybe it was because the blond liked her other persona the way Marinette liked Adrien.

"Do you think that because I'm a guy, I can't dress as Ladybug?" Adrien playfully pouted, crossing his arms and sulking back into his seat.

"What?! N-No! I-I-I," Marinette stammered. _Great, now he thinks I'm sexist!_ Marinette thought to herself as she hid her embarrassment in her clawed gloves, covering her face completely.

Adrien burst into a fit of laughter at the way Marinette reacted and she peeked her eye out to see the blond model wiping a tear from his eye as he continued to laugh. His hearty chuckle vibrated through her being, making her feel warm and fuzzy inside. The bluenette couldn't hold back a giggle at his laugh which was contagious and how could it _not_ be?

"Ladybug? She's just amazing," Adrien mused, "Chat Noir is just as amazing as she is, like you said, but Ladybug…wow…she's amazing in her own way," Marinette perked up at his praising Ladybug, praising _her_. "Anyway, I thought dressing up as my la—er, _Ladybug_ would be the best way to show my appreciation for her," Adrien sheepishly scratched the back of his head as he finished expressing his admiration for the red-clad superheroine.

Marinette couldn't help but feel guilty. While all the things she said about Chat were more than true to her, she mainly dressed as him so no one would recognize her as Ladybug; how selfish she felt. Adrien, however, he chose to be Ladybug for all the right reasons: he adored her and thought highly of her. The bluenette wished Alya was there by her side to catch her in case she swooned at her crush's comments on Ladybug, and she was 99.9% sure she would.

Marinette opened her mouth to speak, but a voice not her own, a voice that could shatter mirrors, filled the gaps in the air instead.

"Well, well, if it isn't Marinette Dupain-Cheng," Chloe snarled as she approached her desk, speaking Marinette's name as if it tasted like poison. The bottle-blonde was dressed in a high-quality suit, much like Adrien's, with all the right details. Of course, between the two of them, Adrien _definitely_ wore it better than Chloe. "Aren't you sticking out like a sore thumb!" the bratty snob maniacally chortled at her crude comment and nudged her lackey, Sabrina, to join in on the jeering. Sabrina wore a makeshift Ladybug costume as well, a simple red t-shirt and slacks with black spots.

"Is that really necessary, Chloe?" Adrien challenged, furrowing his eyebrows, wanting to put an end to her cruelty towards Marinette.

Chloe craned her neck to look at the model boy and her eyes lit up. "Adrikins!" she shrilled, "Look at us, we match perfectly like a couple!" Chloe leaned in to plant a kiss on Adrien's cheek, of which, the blond reluctantly accepted. Marinette felt rage boiling inside the core of her being as she watched Chloe's lips make contact with Adrien's smooth, tanned cheek. "I simply cannot wait to go to the dance with you tonight, we'll have to match, of course. Daddy bought me a _very_ expensive dress that will make everyone else's look like trash-"

"Sorry, Chlo," Adrien interrupted, "But I already have a date," he swung his arm around Marinette's shoulders protectively, as if shielding her from Chloe's wrath. Marinette blushed deeply, surprised by the sudden action and surprised more so when the young model pulled her closer to his side.

"Don't tell me you mean _her_ ," Chloe hissed. When the blond model nodded in response, his neatly styled locks bounced up and down like dancing rays of sunshine. The rich brat scoffed at Adrien's answer and erupted into rage. "Well, I never!" she bellowed as she turned away and stormed off back to her seat, snapping her fingers as a signal for Sabrina to follow.

"Um, thanks," Marinette squeaked, looking up into his emerald eyes, "You didn't have to do that, I can handle Chloe on my own…I'm used to it," Marinette shrugged.

"Really? I know Chloe can be…well, Chloe, but I had no idea she treated you like that so often," Adrien exclaimed, shocked and partially annoyed at this new discovery. Why hadn't Marinette come to him about this sooner? Or at all? He could've spoken to Chloe to get her to put an end to bullying one of his friends.

"What is going on over _here_?" Alya piped up, slamming her hand down on the desk in front of the two.

It was then that Adrien realized he still had his arm curled around Marinette and his eyes grew as wide as saucers. He blinked once, frozen in time, before swiftly peeling his arm off of the blue-haired girl's shoulders.

"Nothing!" the designer and model squeaked in unison as they slid away from each other, breaking the flush contact between their hips, thighs, and sides.

"Yo, dudes, I just noticed," Nino jumped in to the now awkward conversation, "You guys are like a gender-bent Ladybug and Chat Noir duo…did you plan that?"

Adrien and Marinette looked at each other and blushed, also just noticing their coordinating costumes and blushed furiously once more. Before either one of them could correct their DJ friend, the bell rang, alerting students that homeroom had ended and they had five minutes to get to their period two classes.

 **Chapter 4**

"What are going to do, Marinette?" Tikki's small voice questioned the frantic blue-haired girl. Marinette was in her attic bedroom for lunch, but she hadn't touched her croissant that laid by her computer.

"Ugh, I don't know, Tikki! I can't believe this is happening! Why did I have to say 'yes' to that…that…perfect face?" Marinette exclaimed, "Oh, yeah, because he's only the love of my life! How could I say 'no'? Oh, Tikki, please help me!"

The bug-like kwami flew up to Marinette, currently sprawled across her chaise, and landed in Marinette's hands. "You just need to breathe and think, you'll come up with something," Tikki assured her.

"But, what about being Ladybug? _And_ me?" Marinette pouted, "I can't just ditch Adrien to go be Ladybug and do the "Open Questions" portion of the dance, and I can't not answer questions because Chat Noir is counting on me to be there! I'm screwed…actually, no. My head is one big loose screw and that's why I always get myself into these situations."

"Well, Marinette, you simply need a screwdriver to tighten that loose screw," Tikki chimed, "You just have to figure out what that screwdriver is." Tikki nuzzled against Marinette's hands and smiled brightly at her.

"Tikki, you know I don't understand your 'wise metaphors'," Marinette giggled. "Wait! I think I know what you mean! I have a screwdriver who is always there for me, someone who always knows what to do!"

Marinette jumped to her feet and picked up her phone next to her untouched croissant and dialed Alya's number. Tikki rolled her eyes and crossed her arms at her chosen, staring at her with big blue eyes.

"Ahem," Tikki caught Marinette's attention as the blue-haired girl's phone continued to ring, "How do you plan on explaining your situation to Alya, exactly?" the red kwami inquired in a somewhat sarcastic tone.

It suddenly clicked in Marinette's head and she quickly ended the call before Alya could answer, then proceeded to toss her phone back on her desk. She groaned in frustration and sunk back down into her chaise.

"I can't tell Alya I'm Ladybug, that's my whole dilemma! Wait…can I? No, I must keep my identity a secret for everyone's safety. But she's my best friend and best friends don't keep secrets from each other. Although, Alya may want to post something about me being Ladybug on her blog, telling the whole world who I am. No, I trust her…she's Alya! Ugh! This is so hard!" Marinette dug her clawed fingers into her hair, forgetting she was wearing the clawed gloves, and yelped in pain. She had to take the cat ears off to rub her head where she unintentionally stabbed herself.

"Marinette, I hate to interrupt this war you're having with yourself, but what did I tell you about breathing?" Tikki zipped up to Marinette and floated in front of her lightly freckled face.

"You're right. I need to figure this out on my own," Marinette grumbled. She looked up at her kwami who flashed her a cheeky grin and couldn't help but smile back at Tikki's adorable face.

"Wait! Hold on a second…" Marinette popped off the chaise and practically danced across her room to where her sewing machine was set up. She pulled out her sketch design for her Ladybug dress, which was tucked under a book so her friends and family wouldn't see it when they were in her room.

"What are thinking?" Tikki inquired as Marinette made her way back to the chaise where the red kwami was sitting in wait for her. Marinette smirked and fell back on the plush, pink seat, arms extended and holding the paper above her head.

"Something."

.

.

.

"Plagg, I really messed up," Adrien complained to his black, cat-like kwami who was stuffing his face with camembert. Adrien's father, Gabriel Agreste, never joined him for lunch in the dining hall and Nathalie was in her office so Plagg was free to go out in the open without fear of being seen.

"Listen…kid…what happened…happened," Plagg said in between bites. The wedge of cheese was almost double his size but that didn't stop him. He swallowed a huge lump of camembert and cleared his throat; where Plagg was storing all that cheese in his tiny body, Adrien hadn't the slightest idea. "You can't change the past, 'kay? But why'd you ask in the first place?"

"I don't know…" Adrien glanced down at his still gloved hands and twiddled his fingers as he continued, "I guess I just got caught up in the moment and Marinette was just… _there_! And she looked-"

"Totally hot!" Plagg boasted, his mouth full.

"What? No! Maybe? Yes! _No_! Plagg! Just eat your stinky cheese!" Adrien barked, his cheeks flushed red as the image of Marinette in that skin-tight Chat Noir costume lingered back into his mind. He tried to push the thought of her away. The blond was disgusted by himself for thinking of his classmate in that perverted way.

"If you ask me, maybe it's a good thing you asked Marinette," Plagg added, "I mean Ladybug doesn't give you the time of day, but Marinette seems to be a fan of yours." The cat-like creature tossed the remaining hunk of cheese into the air and caught it in his mouth, gulping it all down at once.

"She said she wasn't a fan, remember?" Adrien leaned back in his chair and folded his arms as he let out a sigh.

"I'm just saying you have a shot with her if 'your lady' doesn't work out," Plagg shrugged, picking up a wedge of brie, of which, he chowed down on.

"But…what am I going to do about being two people at the same time?" Adrien complained, "I don't want to have to ditch Marinette when Chat Noir needs to show up…" He thought back to Marinette in her homemade Chat suit and the way she moved in it, causing a rosy blush to dance across his cheeks.

"Leave that to me!" the black kwami assured, smirking.

"Why? What do you have in mind?" the model questioned as he leaned forward, bringing his face closer to the cheese-loving, pig-of-a-cat kwami.

"Something."

 **I would love to hear what you have to say about the story, whether it be what you like, what you don't like, or what you want to see happen. I'm open to suggestions! I want to put it out there that I'm aiming to have around 30 chapters or so for this fanfic, and once in a while, throw in an alternate ending to a chapter just for laughs. School work comes before fun work so I don't know how often I'll be updating...high school, am I right? Anyway, thank you again for the all the positive feedback and support! You are all beautiful people! :3**


	5. Chapter 5: Pound It!

Hello, beautiful people! This chapter was posted a day later than I wanted to but something kept happening with the spacing or something of the text creating a glitch...which is why I reposted this several times. _The struggle!_ Anyway, here is Chapter 5:

 **Chapter 5**

Marinette took her usual seat in the chemistry classroom next to Alya, who was on her phone. The bell didn't ring yet, but Ms. Mendeleive was always a few minutes late to class after lunch, so the students had some free time before they had to get to work. Marinette peered over Alya's shoulder to see she was scrolling through her blog, looking at pictures she took of her classmates dressed as Ladybug.

"I know you're watching me," Alya giggled, not taking her eyes off of the screen. "I have a favor to ask of you really quick before class starts."

"Yeah, okay, what is it?" Marinette asked, still hunched over Alya's shoulder and observing each photo she scrolled past.

The brunette had uploaded pictures of almost every high schooler, except for Chloe, Sabrina, Marinette, and Adrien. Chloe either didn't want her photo taken and didn't want Sabrina's picture taken as well, or Alya didn't want to post photos of Chloe and Sabrina. Either way, Alya declared those two were definitely _not_ going to be featured on the Ladyblog.

"So, I want to take a pic of your totally amazing Chat Noir outfit to put on the Ladyblog, being that you're literally the only one in, like, all of Paris, besides the actual Chat Noir," the blogger chirped, turning to face Marinette, "And, I want you to pose with Adrien 'cause Nino pointed out you two are like gender-bent Ladybug and Chat Noir." Alya's eyes flickered with glee and a hint of mischief. Of course, the brunette had found another way to get Marinette and her crush together.

The young designer's eyes widened and glanced over to Adrien sitting in front of her, waiting for Nino to arrive and unaware of what Alya mentioned. She barely had time to think of a response when the brunette in glasses called the blond's name.

"Adrien! Can I get a few pics for the Ladyblog? Your costume is on point!" Alya declared.

"Sure, I don't see why not," Adrien warmly replied, getting out of his seat, "I'm pretty used to people taking my picture anyway," he sheepishly scratched the back of his head as memories of modeling and crazed fans flooded his brain.

"Perfecto! Can you stand with Marinette and give me a fierce pose?" Alya motioned for Marinette to get up and for Adrien to join her. "Gimmie something…Ladybug and Chat Noir!" Alya dictated as she held up her phone to snap some pictures of the two.

Marinette looked up to Adrien and they must have had the same thought running through their minds because they both simultaneously raised their arms to do a fist bump. It felt so natural to move in unison and pound their fists together, almost like they had done it hundreds of times.

"Pound it!" the two called out together when their gloved hands touched.

They stood frozen in that pose, arms outstretched and knuckles colliding, and the black-clad designer met the eyes of the red-clad model. Alya took advantage of this moment and took several photos with her phone, all the while screaming internally at how adorable the two looked together.

A bright, yet deep, blush crept onto Marinette's cheeks, making her freckles more prominent, as well as Adrien's, their eyes still locked and hands still touching. Marinette knew there was something that was just so familiar about standing in that pose with the blond, but as she pondered, she didn't realize what her fingers were doing.

Marinette looked down to see her black claws intertwined with Adrien's red, gloved fingers. Alya delightedly continued to snap more pictures, capturing this cute moment on her phone. She was _definitely_ keeping these photos for Marinette to ogle over later. Both the blue-haired girl and the blond boy leaned in closer to each other, taking baby steps towards the other; of course, they weren't aware that they were doing so.

The world around them was non-existent, it was just the two of them riveting in the other's eyes, staring longingly at blue and green orbs. It was only when Marinette felt Adrien's warm breath on her face, did she awake from her daze, taking in how close they were. The model snapped back to reality at the same time, and the duo briskly backed away from each other, unlacing their fingers like nothing happened. Adrien blushed intensely, but the red tint that took to his face didn't come anywhere close to Marinette's.

"Yes! That was _awesome_!" Alya cheered, "I bet these will go totally viral on the Ladyblog!" Alya clutched her phone to her chest and squealed to herself as she sat back down in her seat.

Marinette avoided Adrien's stare; she couldn't help but be reminded of Chat Noir when they fist-bumped. Adrien had the same familiar feeling bubbling inside him as he continued to study Marinette, being sure to _not_ look at her…hips…legs…her overall figure…especially her—no! _God, no_! He was too much of a gentleman to stare at _that_ part of a lady. But why did he keep gawking at her body in that black costume as if she was Ladybug?

Adrien couldn't keep his mind off of Marinette and the way they bumped their fists together. He had never felt this way about her before, in fact, he had never felt this way about anyone other than Ladybug…so why Marinette all of a sudden? He shuddered at the idea that it was just because of the way she was dressed, but it was more than just the way the black fabrics hugged her form tautly. Perhaps it was all those things she said about his alter-ego? He brushed the feeling aside as he made his way back to his seat.

"Ooh, girl," Alya cooed, "Adrien totally likes you, I mean, have you _seen_ the way he's been at you? Or are you too busy looking at him in the same way?" she joked, nudging Marinette's arm as she sat down next to her best friend.

"Wh-What do you mean?" Marinette jittered.

"I guess it takes black spandex and cat ears for him to notice you, haha," Alya chortled, poking her finger on Marinette's now burning cheek.

.

.

.

"Okay, it is plain unfair that we have homework tonight," Alya complained, shoving her chemistry notes in her bag, "I mean, like any of us are gonna do it—hello? It's freaking Miraculous Day, A.K.A. the most important holiday! Well, after Christmas, I mean, _praise the Lord and Jesus take the wheel_ ," Alya jumped to her feet and swung her backpack over her shoulders, almost losing her balance from the weight of her bag.

"Tell me about it," Marinette grumbled, "I have to make a last-minute dress when I get home thanks to you," Marinette teased as she lifted her equally heavy bag with ease. Between lifting bags of flour at the bakery and fighting off akumatized victims, Marinette had grown accustom to carrying hefty items.

"Hey, you _should_ be thanking me!" Alya retorted, "I got you only the best thing ever! A date with a certain Mr. Agreste," The two girls continued to chat as they exited the chemistry lab and made their way to the library to get a head-start on all the homework that they were assigned.

Marinette and Alya found two open seats at a table and dumped the contents of their book bags on said table. There weren't as many people in the library during study hall as Marinette predicted, but she wasn't complaining. Alya let out a huff of exasperation from lugging her backpack to the other side of the school and practically sank into her chair.

"Girl," she panted, "I don't…get how…you carry…that much… _ugh_ ," Alya managed to vocalize in between deep breaths. Marinette took the seat across from Alya and grinned brightly at her exhausted friend, feeling almost sorry for how much she was struggling…but it was too funny.

"I'll tell you when you when Adrien and I get married," Marinette joked sarcastically, turning her attention away from Alya to pick up her chemistry textbook and tablet. What Marinette did not expect to see, however, was a pair of perfect peridot eyes mere inches away from her face. "GAH!" Marinette yelped as she fell back and tumbled out of her chair onto the cool, tile floor.

 _Twice in one day,_ Adrien scolded himself, _Why do I always scare her?_

Adrien plastered an amiable smile from ear to ear of his sun-kissed face and extended a hand out to Marinette, now sprawled across the floor. Marinette reluctantly accepted his red, gloved hand and wished their hands weren't encased in a layer of fabric so she could feel his warm, soft skin on hers. _Curse these sausage casing gloves!_ Marinette thought.

Adrien pulled Marinette to her feet with ease and held her hand for a considerably longer amount of time than necessary. He was lost in her bluebell eyes, encircled by her black mask; something about her mesmerizing eyes put Adrien in a trance, he didn't know what it was about these kind, honest, strong, brave, beautiful eyes. Who knew eyes could be described in such a way? Adrien illustrated eyes with those words, in fact he would use the same exact words to describe the eyes belonging to…

"Um…thanks," the bluenette squeaked, breaking the eye contact as she switched her focus to her feet, a blush painted on her cheeks.

Marinette did dare not look into his eyes again, his gorgeous green eyes that trapped her gaze and hypnotized her to be lost in his stare. She rubbed her shoulder out of embarrassment and sighed, her eyes looking anywhere but Adrien's. However, Adrien never took his focus off of Marinette and observed her rubbing her shoulder.

"It's nothing, I'm sorry I scared you…again," the red-clad boy let out a nervous chuckle and sheepishly scratched the back of his head. "Is your shoulder better?"

"What?"

"Er-I mean _okay_ , is your shoulder _okay_?" Adrien asked as he gestured to the shoulder Marinette was clutching. He recalled Marinette saying she fell yesterday and hurt her shoulder. Of course, she told Chat Noir that, not Adrien. But, hold the phone, was it her left shoulder or her right shoulder? She was currently rubbing her right shoulder but last night he swore it was her left…

"Oh, my shoulder's fine, I just-I, um-it's fine," Marinette jittered as she allowed her eyes to linger up to look into Adrien's dazzling green orbs. He blushed furiously at Marinette, and his Ladybug mask didn't provide a cover for his reddening face like Marinette's Chat Noir mask did.

"Okay, just checking to make sure," Adrien expressed, hints of worry and concern written in his face.

It felt like another hundred years of simply staring into each other's eyes, where blue met green and melted together. Marinette would have loved to stay that way with Adrien, him gazing into her eyes and she doing the same, gazing into his eyes. Had the young model not spoken up, the two could have stared into each other's eyes for at least five more minutes.

"I totally forgot to talk to you about tonight," Adrien began, "You know, like, what we'll be doing and when?"

"O-Oh yeah, totally slipped my mind, too!" Marinette faltered, averting her ogling at the blond boy.

"So, I guess I'll pick you up at 8pm?" he suggested, "That's a good time, right? Unless you'd prefer earlier or later than that…whatever works for you. My driver can take us to the dance to meet Alya and Nino, so it'd just be us."

"J-Just…u-us…?" Marinette's eyes grew wide with a mixture of complete joy and fear, she had never truly been alone with Adrien before.

Alya wouldn't be there to make sure she wasn't doing or saying anything she shouldn't. _Alya_. Marinette peeled her eyes away from the blond momentarily to see Alya, looking giddy with herself for what she initiated. She flashed her best friend a cheeky grin and a 'thumbs-up' before pretending to go back to doing her homework.

"Okay, great, I'll see you tonight," Adrien's lips curled up into a warm smile as he placed his hand on Marinette's shoulder and nodded, his eyes twinkling. Much to Marinette's chagrin, Adrien took his hand off of her right shoulder far sooner than what she would have wanted. But, she couldn't help but gape at the blond as he walked away with a pep in his step.

"What was that little exchange, hm?" Alya questioned, redirecting Marinette's attention to herself. Marinette plopped down in her seat across from Alya again, not meeting her best friend's inquisitive stare. "Well, maybe that interaction with Pretty Boy might explain these photos…" Alya slid her phone across the table with the picture of Marinette and Adrien fist-bumping on the screen.

The blue-haired girl studied the picture, more specifically, she studied the way Adrien looked posing for the photo. His stature reminded her of Chat Noir again, but Marinette pushed the thought out of her head. How could someone so perfect and smart and kind as Adrien be anything like a cocky, pun-spewing, flirt? She swiped to the next photo and the next, them being almost identical, all having the two bumping fists, but the fourth picture she landed on caught her attention.

"Alya. What. Is. This." Marinette spoke in a hushed yet stern voice, sweat rolling down her back and eyes staring frantically at the photo on Alya's phone.

It was the picture of Marinette and Adrien, with their fingers intertwined and them standing pretty darn close to each other. _That's what we looked like?_ Marinette wondered. She noticed the look on Adrien's face that she hadn't picked up on in the moment, but the picture captured the expression as well as Marinette's. He wore the same expression on his face; Adrien was looking at Marinette the way Marinette was looking at Adrien: longing. Longing…?

"Oh, yeah, _that_ ," Alya smirked, "I didn't post it to the blog but I could still post it somewhere else…unless you want me to send it to Adrien?" Alya jiggled her eyebrows as she snatched her phone back from Marinette's dainty hands.

"Alya, _no_ ," Marinette warned.

"Alya, _yes_!"

 **Ta da! What did you think about this chapter? As always, please leave your thoughts in the reviews: what you like, don't like, and or what you want to see happen in future chapters. Thank you and until next time! :)**


	6. Chapter 6: Boi, Why You Stalking?

Hello beautiful people! Thank you for your feedback and positive reviews as well as your thoughts on the story. I simply love reading them and they bring a smile to my face! :D Enjoy this chapter!

 **Chapter 6**

Marinette was pacing around her room, brainstorming what she would need for her dress while simultaneously panicking about what Alya intended to do with that picture. On the one hand, she would love to have that photo to herself, to see Adrien returning the same love-struck expression Marinette wore. Wait… _love-struck expression_ …did that mean Adrien liked her back? Or was it just the model in him posing and acting for the camera? Either way, Marinette was far beyond embarrassment should Alya decide to send the picture to Adrien…or not.

Tikki was laying on Marinette's loft bed eating from a plate of cookies when the bluenette flopped onto her chaise, face down. It was then Marinette heard a creaking noise coming from her wall and signaled for the petite kwami to hide behind her cat pillow, but Tikki just _had_ to take her time by moving the plate of chocolate cookies with her to her hiding spot. Marinette cautiously got to her feet and started to tip-toe to her staircase when a tapping sound came from behind her, causing her to jump. She whipped her head around to see a blond, sly-faced, black-clad alley cat peeking in through her window and tapping on the glass with a clawed finger.

Marinette grunted before lugging herself over to the window to let Chat Noir in. Once his boots touched the floor of the designer's room, he immediately threw himself onto her pink chaise, kicking his feet up and resting his arms behind his head. He glanced over to Marinette and grinned, ecstatic that she was still dressed in the replica of his suit.

"Well, aren't you a Peeping Tom-cat?" Marinette chortled as she pushed her swivel chair next to the chaise and sat down in it. Cat Noir cocked an eyebrow at her before releasing a soft chuckle.

"My, my, Princess, that's no nickname to give your knight in shining leather," Chat replied.

Marinette inwardly cringed at the way he called her 'Princess', yet kept a smile on her face as if she was unfazed by it. She didn't know why he gave her that nickname, nor did she care for it—well, when it came from her partner, at least.

"Okay, two things," Marinette retorted, "One, don't call me that—there are only three people I would allow to call me 'Princess', those people being my mom, my dad, and Ad-uh, _a friend_. And two, I think that nickname suits you perfectly, what with you spying on me all the time lately," the bluenette huffed, crossing her arms and turning her nose up at the feline superhero.

"I'd hardly call it spying if I only just got here to drop in and visit my number one fan," Chat smirked. Marinette realized she was still dressed as Chat Noir and blushed at his comment, but technically, she _was_ his number one fan. In fact, she'd been his biggest fan as well as his partner since day one, exactly one year ago today. "I believe this is a classic case of 'who wore it better', don't you think?" he simpered, and before Marinette could counter his statement, he added, "But you clearly make that suit work better than me."

Marinette's cheeks grew warmer at Chat's compliment, and it didn't help when he winked at her, too. She shook herself out of her thoughts and focused on the cat-boy in her room when she remembered something: her sketches for her Ladybug dress were strewn about her desk. Chat Noir could easily see them and figure out that Marinette was Ladybug and that _could not_ happen! At least she hadn't had time to hang up her pictures of Adrien again after the events of last night because she most certainly did not feel like having to explain them to Chat Noir.

The black-clad girl scurried over to her desk and shoved the sketches into a folder, too quick for Chat to catch a glimpse at what they were. Marinette let out a sigh of relief before turning back to that alley cat lounging on her furniture, _This silly kitty is really starting to bug me,_ Marinette internally complained, _Wait—did I just make a pun? Gah, I 've been hanging around Chat Noir too much._

Marinette cleared her throat before asking, "What can I do for you, Chat?" the blue-haired girl beamed at him and nonchalantly walked back over to the blond cat-boy. She picked up his feet and swung them off of the chaise, causing them to land with a thud on the floor.

"Hey!"

She proceeded to sit down where his feet once rested and turned to face him, sneering at the masked hero as if she's won the game he was trying to play. Chat Noir straightened his posture, sitting upright and shifting his body so that he was facing the masked girl. He became lost in Marinette's bluer than blue eyes and didn't realize how long he had been staring at her in awe. However, she picked up on this and brought him back to reality.

"Yoo hoo," Marinette waved her hand in front of his face and captured his attention, "What are you doing here? _Again_ …" she impatiently questioned as she crossed her arms and rolled her eyes, thinking back to last night and how she was pleasantly, yet unpleasantly, greeted by Chat Noir.

"Well, I…um," a light blush tinted Chat's cheeks as he stammered, "You're the only one who dressed as me today and…well…I was wondering if I could get a picture?"

Marinette stared blankly at him, processing what he just asked of her. _Me? He wants a picture with me? Why?_ Marinette pondered. "Excuse me?" she voiced with uncertainty.

"I know, I know, it's silly. But I was hoping to get a picture with you because I'm really touched that you took the time to make a costume and everything and I heard what you said about me and-"

"Wait," the bluenette interrupted, "What do you mean 'what I said about you'?" Marinette didn't recall telling him anything about what she thought of him…she only told Adrien. She figured he must have spread the word that Marinette felt Chat was underappreciated in comparison to Ladybug.

"Oh! I, um, heard it around school," Chat Noir fibbed through his teeth, though there was some truth to his statement. "Plus, you were the only one in, like, all of Paris to don my suit," he smirked, leaning in closer to Marinette, which made her pink cheeks deepen into a red. Fortunately for him, she bought his story. "What do you say, _Purr_ -incess?"

"Okay, I'm down."

"Really? You mean it?" Chat's eyes lit up with child-like glee, "Here, we can take a selfie!" Chat Noir leapt from the chaise to his feet and pulled out a smart phone that looked oddly familiar to Marinette. The cat-boy bounded over to her, a wide grin plastered on his face, and swung his arm around her shoulder, but as soon as his black, gloved hand made contact with her black-wrapped shoulder, he pulled his hand back.

"What's wrong?" Marinette asked, curious as to why Chat didn't want to touch her out of nowhere. A weary smile tugged at Chat Noir's lips as he looked at the floor awkwardly.

"Your shoulder," he began, "I don't know if it's still bothering you or not," the black-clad superhero pointed to Marinette's shoulder with a bashful expression. Marinette remembered how she used her shoulder spasming last night as an excuse for her outburst when Tikki pinched her… _twice_.

"Oh— _Oh_! My shoulder's fine, yeah, it stopped hurting…uh…this morning," the blue-haired girl jittered as she twisted the ends of her pigtails.

"But what about my world-famous shoulder rub I promised my princess?" the blond pouted and slouched over-exaggeratedly, obviously poking fun at the situation.

"No longer needed," Marinette fired back jokingly, smiling and folding her arms.

Chat shrugged before repositioning his arm around Marinette and pulled her close, provoking an unexpected giggle to escape her lips at the sudden action. He extended his arm out, clutching his phone and snapped several photos of them together, as well as one of just Marinette in her costume. Chat smiled at the picture of them laughing together and he chuckled out loud at the one where they made silly faces—he had scrunched up his face while Marinette had puffed her cheeks out. When he swiped to view the full-length picture of Marinette, he paused and gawked at the photo.

"You okay there, Kitty?" Chat heard Marinette's light, sweet-sounding voice and emerged from his thoughts. She gave him a puzzled look as she assumed her seat on the end of the chaise.

"Sorry, I was just thinking about tonight," the feline hero covered up his deep thoughts on Marinette with a believable excuse, "Can I count on seeing you at the dance?" He already knew the answer, but he figured he'd make conversation with Marinette about something. It was a rarity that Adrien got to talk to the bluenette without spooking her, so chatting with her as Chat Noir was his way of getting to know more about Marinette.

"Yeah, I'm going with Adrien Agreste," Marinette grumbled, "It's not that I don't want to go with him, don't get me wrong, he's a _great_ guy. It's just…I wasn't planning on going because I didn't really want to go; it's not really my scene, parties and dances and all that. My friend, Alya—she runs the Ladyblog—got Adrien to ask me to the dance and I was torn where I couldn't say 'yes' but at the same time I couldn't say 'no'. Of course, I was caught up in the moment of someone actually asking me that I agreed to be his date. Now I have less than five hours before he gets here to make a dress for the dance," Marinette couldn't tell Chat Noir about the conflict of doubling as Ladybug, so she left that part out. She sighed and laid back on her chaise, spreading her body across the cushion in a fit of woe.

It was Chat Noir's turn to sit at the edge of the pink seat, next to where Marinette propped her feet up. With this new discovery about Marinette's opinions on the dance, Chat suddenly felt guilty for asking and sort of forcing her to go with him as Adrien. On top of that, he would have to abandon the young designer when Ladybug and Chat Noir would need to make their appearances. All that the black-clad protector of Paris could do was nod at Marinette's short-lived rant.

"Anyway, what are you gonna be wearing, Chat?" Marinette asked, changing the subject. To her surprise, Chat Noir emitted a face full of confusion and gestured to his superhero suit.

"I think it's pretty obvious, Marinette," he chortled as he ran his hand through his wild mop of blond locks and winked at Marinette, but that only filled her with frustration.

"What? No!" the blue-haired girl challenged, sitting straight up, "You can't wear _that_ to a dance! You're not wearing a suit and tie to a celebration in your honor?"

"Secret identity, duh."

"Wear a mask, 'duh'," Marinette pointed to his black mask that concealed most of his face, "I swear you are so dense sometimes I think your brain actually is the size of a cat's," she muttered as she peeled her homemade mask and ears off, undoing the clips that held them securely in place throughout the day.

Chat Noir simply stared at her rather ungraceful movements but struggled to close his gaping mouth. Marinette tossed her clip-on mask and cat ears at the unsuspecting feline hero, of which had hit him in the chest and landed in his lap. He wore a puzzled look and, back and forth, stared at the accessories in his hands then at Marinette, who mumbled something about cats.

"Wear them with something decent tonight… _please_ ," she somewhat dryly begged of him, modeling an unamused expression. Before Marinette could say anything else, she heard her phone ping with a text alert and pulled it out of her pocket. The screen displayed a notification that she received a text from Alya, but she wasn't prepared for what the brunette actually sent.

Just as she was opening her messages, Chat Noir's smartphone chimed with a text alert as well, but Marinette failed to notice. He, too, received a text from Alya; only it wasn't a message, but rather a picture of him and Marinette from earlier that day. He blushed furiously at the sight of them gazing longingly into each other's eyes and their fingers laced together. Chat wasn't aware Alya had still been taking photos of them at the time, but he didn't mind because he actually _liked_ this picture? Why was it so difficult to maintain these new feelings? Strange…

Marinette's eyes stared in panic at her phone screen, as she read the text from Alya:

 **Alya: Hey gurl guess wat ;)**

Anxiety coursed through her veins and made her legs feel like jelly as she gawked in horror at the screenshot Alya sent Marinette. It showed that she did, in fact, forward the image of Marinette and Adrien! The blue-haired Parisian never felt so wronged by someone in her entire life—not counting Chloe, being that she did so on a regular basis.

"NO!" Marinette shrieked, tearing Chat's attention away from his phone, "No, no, no, no, no, _no_!"

"What's the matter, Princess?" he hurriedly jumped to his feet and crouched beside Marinette and peered over her shoulder to see what the frantic girl was freaking out about. Chat saw the screenshot that Alya sent her and instantaneously grew confused, wondering why Marinette would fuss over it.

"My life is over!" Marinette cried, burying her bare face in her gloved hands, "I told Alya not to send it to him! Gah!" Chat Noir's bewilderment only enhanced at Marinette's sudden outburst.

"I don't see what's wrong with your friend sending that to me-uh, _Mr_. Agreste…"

"You don't get it! That picture is extremely embarrassing and I didn't want Adrien to see it!" Marinette spread her fingers apart, uncovering her bluebell eyes.

Chat smiled to himself because he was glad he did see the picture of the two of them. It wasn't badass like the one Alya posted on her blog of them fist-bumping, but rather more intimate and loving. Marinette's eyes magnified and filled with panic, and her shriek kept Chat Noir from getting the chance to comfort Marinette about her situation.

"Oh no!" Marinette gasped as she looked at her phone. The cat-boy's emerald eyes widened, wondering what was wrong this time, but Marinette popped off the chaise and shoved the cat mask and ears into a plastic grocery bag she snatched from her desk drawer before he could ask. She proceeded to place it in Chat Noir's hands before ushering him out the window. "I only have _four_ hours now to make this dress and you've distracted me long enough!"

Chat sat in the window sill, legs dangling outside, bag swung over his shoulder, about to make his grand exit, when a smirk wandered onto his lips. "Oh, I distract you, do I?" he jiggled his eyebrows and chuckled to himself, making Marinette boil over.

"Shoo!" she bellowed as she pushed him off the sill before closing her window. Fortunately, he caught himself on a ledge on the side of the building's exterior and looked up at her, smiling.

"How you wound me so, Princess!" Chat Noir hollered up at Marinette, cupping his hands around his mouth like a megaphone, before he turned and bounded away on the rooftops.

 **Well, that escalated quickly...one minute you're having a friendly conversation, and the next, you're being shoved out of a window. If you would, please leave your thoughts in the reviews: what you like, what you don't like, what you want to see happen, and maybe any predictions you have for this fanfic. I love to read what you have to say! Until next chapter, toodles! :3**


	7. Chapter 7: Getting Ready

Hello beautiful people! It means so much to me as a writer to have so many of you follow and favorite my story. Enjoy this chapter! :3

 **Chapter 7**

"Marinette, you look absolutely beautiful," Tikki chirped, floating to the right of Marinette, who was standing in front of her full-length mirror and admiring her handiwork.

"Thanks, Tikki," the blue-haired girl blushed, "I still can't believe I pulled this off."

Marinette was wearing a pale pink, strapless dress with a white ribbon around her waist that came to her knees. It was fitted at the bodice with a swooping back and flared at the skirt, which was layered overtop with a covering of a sheer pink, shimmery fabric. She wore white ballet flats and a dainty silver chain around her neck with a simple cat head charm dangling from it. Marinette's pink, pouch-like purse hung at her hip and contained her homemade ladybug print mask and a pair of red gloves that would come up to her elbows.

"I still think your idea of turning your Ladybug dress into a reversible one was a genius," Tikki added.

Marinette had decided that instead of making a whole new dress to change in and out of, she would alter the dress she already made into one that both Marinette and Ladybug could wear. It would be much easier to simply turn her dress inside-out when she needed to be Ladybug rather than carry an extra article of clothing with her all night—people would question her and Marinette wouldn't be able to provide any answers as to why she would be lugging around a Ladybug dress with her.

"I suppose I can be a genius when I'm not being a total dorkasauraus," Marinette joked, smiling at Tikki in the reflection, "I just feel like I'm forgetting something…" Marinette studied her face, which she applied light makeup to. She added a touch of lip gloss and mascara as well as concealer to hide the dark circles under her eyes; patrolling as Ladybug left Marinette with a multitude of sleepless nights, and serious baggage under her blue eyes.

"Well, you have your makeup done and your hair, courtesy of moi," the red kwami had assisted Marinette with her midnight blue hair, which was all pulled back in a messy, yet elegant bun on top of her head. She had her fringe loosely curled to add body to her bangs and create a nice frame around her face. The bluenette began to feel somewhat vain for thinking she looked pretty in the reflection.

"Yes, and thank you, again, Tikki."

"It was nothing Marinette…oh! But what about your Ladybug accessories? You have them packed? And your change of shoes? You're positive your black heels are in your locker at school?" Tikki buzzed with questions as if she was reciting a check list. Marinette nodded in response, trying her hardest to hold back her giggle at how the bug-like kwami zipped around and made sure her charge had everything. "Oh, I know! Did you shave?"

"Tikki…"

"Well, did you?"

Marinette sheepishly nodded and fiddled with her curled tendrils. She glanced at her clock which read 7:30pm, meaning Adrien would be at her house in half an hour. So, Marinette had half an hour to plan and practice what she was going to say when being interviewed as Ladybug...it was always a good thing to prepare for these kinds of things, especially so she wouldn't get caught off guard by a question.

.

.

.

"Plagg, how am I going to carry all of this to change?" Adrien worriedly asked, pacing back and forth in his bathroom. He looked up in the mirror only to see himself, red-faced and sweating, and Plagg munching on camembert in the reflection. "Ugh, I should just go transformed as Cat Noir, it'd be easier…but Marinette said I should wear something nice, so how will I carry around an extra outfit?"

"Bring your backpack," Plagg suggested, mouth full of stinky cheese. "After all, you _will_ be at school."

"Do you know how ridiculous I'd look? Who brings a backpack to a dance?" Adrien buried his face in his hands and groaned. He peeped his eyes out from behind his fingers and let them wander to the mask and ears Marinette gave him resting on the counter and a thought popped into his head. "Hey, Plagg…"

"What's up, buttercup?" Plagg snickered to himself as he gobbled down the last bit of stinky cheese. "Get it? Buttercup? Cause you got blond hair and buttercups are like blond flowers...I crack myself up!" The kwami wiped a tear from his eye as he doubled over, laughing at his attempt at a joke.

"Yeah, yeah, you're _hiss_ -terical," Adrien rolled his emerald eyes at the black cat creature. At least his puns were _claw_ -some and didn't need explaining; yeah, Plagg should stick with his smelly camembert and leave the comedy to Adrien. "You said you had a plan to help me, right?"

"Duh, bring a backpack with a change of clothes," the kwami retorted dryly, his eyes staring blankly at the blond model. Adrien folded his arms and sighed at the black cat's attitude, or should he say, _cat_ -titude. He thought long and hard about what to do…he knew what he needed to bring, just not how he would bring it.

"That's it!" Adrien squawked with delight and he rushed out of his bathroom, swiping the cat ears and mask on his way out.

"I told you my idea was genius," Plagg bragged before following the eager model back into his bedroom.

He zoomed over to Adrien, who was stuffing the replicated accessories in his shoulder bag, as well as a green tie, a black suit jacket, and a wheel of camembert. Plagg flew into Adrien's book bag excitedly as soon as he smelled the cheese, the camembert wafting it's stench throughout the model's room.

"Don't eat it all in one sitting. It's meant to keep you occupied at the celebration," Adrien scolded as he swung his backpack over his shoulder. Plagg poked his head out of the bag and cackled as Adrien began to walk out of his room. "What's so funny? Come on, we have to pick up Marinette soon and I need to make a quick stop on the way."

"Aren't you forgetting something, Lover Boy?" Plagg gestured to Adrien, a smirk forming at his mouth. The blond looked down to see his was still wearing his casual, everyday clothes he changed into after he took his Ladybug costume off. Adrien groaned before turning around and sulking to his desk, dropping his bag on the floor by his swivel chair. The black cat kwami couldn't help but to snicker at Adrien's absent-mindedness while gnawing on the camembert wheel.

" _After_ I get changed, we go pick up Marinette," Adrien remarked as he strode off into his bathroom and closed the door behind him.

.

.

.

"Just breathe, Marinette," Tikki, in a hushed tone, comforted the blue-haired Parisian currently hyperventilating and pacing around her room. Marinette mumbled to herself while thinking of multiple scenarios where things could go wrong. What if either Adrien figured out she was Ladybug, or Chat Noir found out, or literally all of Paris found out?

"I can't do this! I can't do this!" Marinette frantically yelped, "Why did I agree to do this? Is it too late to say 'no' to Adrien? Gah! What am I saying? Of _course_ I want to go with Adrien! Tikki, help me!"

"Marinette, I-" the ladybug kwami was cut off and unable to deliver her advice because Marinette's trap door swung open and her mother popped her head into her daughter's room. Tikki quickly hid in the blue-haired girl's purse before Sabine had noticed her.

"Someone's here for you," she cooed as she smiled warmly and nodded knowingly at Marinette. Sabine ducked her head out of Marinette's room immediately following her announcement with an excited demeanor shining through her periwinkle blue eyes.

Marinette took a deep breath before making her way to the trap door, still left wide open, and placed her foot on the first step, gripping the handrail so tightly it probably looked deformed. _Just breathe_ , she thought to herself, Tikki's words resonating with her. She shakily took the next step and the next, carefully making her descent down the staircase that lead to the living room. As soon as she was halfway to the main floor of her house, her heart skipped a beat at the sight of Adrien standing at the foot of the steps, waiting for her.

 **You know the drill: please leave a review about what you like, what don't like, what want to see happen in future chapters, and what you predict will happen next. Until next chapter, toodles! :D**


	8. Chapter 8: The Dance

Hello beautiful people! I was _not_ expecting to get 100 followers on this, wow! Thank you guys so much! Enjoy the next chapter! :3

 **Chapter 8**

Adrien was a sight for sore eyes; he was wearing a white button-up dress shirt with long sleeves and a baby pink tie around his neck, and he wore black slacks and shoes that, altogether, looked more expensive than the Dupain-Cheng Bakery. He was firmly grasping a single pink rose with a white, lacey ribbon tied in a bow around the stem. The blond model figured by clutching the rose tightly, it would hide his fingers trembling from nerves.

When he saw Marinette halfway down the stairs, Adrien froze, thinking he'd never laid eyes on such beauty—other than Ladybug, that is. Was Marinette always this beautiful? His princess looked like an actual princess, but it would probably be best to stray from telling her so, being that she could figure out he was Chat Noir. Her arms were bare, revealing her surprisingly defined muscles and her bare shoulders that were dusted with freckles. Adrien's viridescent eyes sparkled when they met Marinette's sky-colored orbs and her gaze immediately took his breath away.

Marinette smiled shyly at him in return and didn't even notice her parents widely grinning and taking a copious amount of pictures of the moment. She started to continue walking down the stairs and had three steps left to take when she lost her footing and fell forward.

It all happened in slow motion for Marinette, stepping too far over the edge of the step and slipping, her off-centered weight pulling her down; oh, how she loathed gravity in that second. The only thing going through Marinette's mind was a word. A _not_ good word to say. A word that started with 'f'.

Adrien's Chat Noir instincts kicked in and he lunged in front of the falling Parisian girl, catching her in his arms as they tumbled to the floor together with Adrien breaking Marinette's fall. The young designer had her eyes squeezed tightly shut in fear, but when she opened them, she saw she was on top of Adrien. Their noses were barely touching as a blush danced across the two high schoolers' faces.

Marinette reacted almost instantly, scrambling to get off of the model and abandon the suggestive position they were in. Her quick action proved faulty when she fell back on her rear after losing her balance once again.

 _This is so not happening!_ Marinette thought, wanting to tear up.

Adrien smiled at her warmly and let out a soft chuckle before picking himself up to his feet. Oh, how his laugh made Marinette feel like she was dancing on a cloud and how it filled her with warmth. The blond boy extended his hand out to the blue-haired girl, offering to help her up. Marinette hesitantly accepted, taking hold of his surprisingly soft hand, and trying not to pass out at the skin on skin hand holding. He effortlessly pulled her to her feet, making Marinette wonder if it was because he was really strong, or if she was just really lightweight.

"Th-Thanks," Marinette stuttered, looking at her feet, "I'm sorry I fell for you—I-I mean _on_ you!"

"Don't worry about it, I'm glad you're okay…you _are_ okay right?" Adrien asked, putting his hands on her shoulders and looking into her eyes.

Marinette blushed when she met his blazing green stare and saw the raw concern for her in them. She could've stared into his eyes for as long as time, but when he removed his bare hands from her bare shoulders, she snapped out of her trance.

"Y-Yeah! I'm fine!" Marinette jittered, brushing her skirt off and adjusting her necklace.

Adrien then noticed the cat charm she was wearing and smiled brightly to himself, thinking, _What was this about not being a fan of Chat Noir?_

"Oh, you two are so cute together!" Sabine called out. Marinette and Adrien had forgotten the Dupain-Cheng's were watching the whole scene go down and leapt away from each other in startle.

"Maman!" Marinette hissed, her face turning beat-red.

"Oh, come now, Marinette," Sabine pouted, "It's not every day you go to a dance with the boy you-"

"MAMAN!"

"Okay, kiddos, how about we take pictures and then you can be on your way?" Tom suggested, interrupting the exchange between the two blue-heads in the room. He knew his wife could get carried away and unintentionally embarrass Marinette, especially in front of the guy she likes. It was what moms were best known for, after all.

Adrien sheepishly glanced at the floor and noticed the trampled rose he dropped when he caught Marinette. He swiftly bent down and picked it up, cradling it in his hands before turning to the blue-haired girl. "This _was_ for you, but-"

"Oh, no, it's beautiful," Marinette encouraged, taking the wilting flower in her dainty hands. When their fingers brushed together, the designer and the model's cheeks grew warm and rosy.

"Alrighty, then," Tom interjected, "Get together and smile!"

He held up his phone, eagerly ready to snap photos of the pair. Adrien wrapped his arm around Marinette's waist, respectfully, of course, because he was a gentleman. This unexpected action from the blond made Marinette scream internally and she feared she would faint right then and there. The two smiled brightly as the flashes went off, temporarily blinding Marinette; Adrien was use to the flash of cameras, so it didn't faze him. He only wished his father was this excited about the dance as the Dupain-Chengs were, what with them taking pictures and all.

Before Marinette knew it, she was walking out of the apartment with Adrien and heading to his car. From the sidewalk, Marinette could see Adrien's gorilla-like driver staring straight forward and holding no emotion in his face. She shuddered, remembering her awkward encounter with him last Christmas and took it that he didn't like her.

"We really didn't have to take your car," Marinette mused, "I mean, it's really nice of you, but the school is just around the corner."

"Oh, I know, it's just really crowded right now and I thought we could take a little bit of a more scenic route while we wait for the number of people out front goes down," the blond boy answered confidently.

Adrien opened the backseat passenger-side door for Marinette and helped her get in before walking around the other side of the car and sitting behind the Gorilla. The bluenette noticed the blond's book bag at his feet and wondered why he had it with him. Adrien saw her eying his backpack and thought of a quick excuse as to why he brought it along.

"It's, um, got my fencing uniform in it," he spewed out, "I need to drop it off at my locker first—if that's okay with you?"

"S-Sure!"

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The rest of the car ride was painfully quiet, the two teenagers finding it hard to make conversation. When they looped around again and rolled to a stop in front of the high school, mostly void of cars and people rushing to get inside as he predicted, Adrien swung his bag over his shoulder and got out of the vehicle, only to open Marinette's door. He extended his hand out to her and assisted her exit from the car, taking the hand that wasn't grasping the pink rose.

Standing in the moonlight, Adrien noticed how Marinette's porcelain skin practically glowed and how the stars twinkled in her blue eyes. He was about to compliment her, when a squeal erupted, breaking the silence.

"Girl!" Alya hollered, running up to the pair; Nino panted and jogged behind the brunette, trying to keep up with his date.

She was wearing a body-contour, lavender dress with peachy orange sequins sewn on the bodice in a swirling pattern and dark purple heels. She had straightened her hair and put contacts in as well. Nino wore a white dress shirt, much like Adrien's, with an orange bowtie, along with black slacks and shoes. The only other difference besides the two guys' ties, was that Nino was wearing a pair of lavender-colored headphones around his neck and an orange baseball cap. Alya tried to get him not to wear it, but ultimately failed.

"Yas, slay, Marinette!" Alya embraced Marinette in a bear hug as the two girls giggled together. Nino huffed as he approached the three, out of breath from chasing after Alya.

"Sup…dudes…" he panted in between breaths. Adrien nudged his gasping buddy and smirked at him.

"How's your night with Alya been so far?" he joked. Nino grunted in response and rested his elbow on the model's shoulder.

"Bro, she has been totally crazy to me! Like, one minute she's all nice and sweet, then she's acting like she's gonna rip my head off the next! And I've constantly been having to keep up with her, running all around the gym 'cause she wants to take pics of everything for the Ladyblog!" the DJ complained.

"Heh, seems like she likes you back, though, even if you messed up big time with her earlier in homeroom," both boys looked up to see their dates chatting so quickly it didn't seem like French anymore, just jumbled up sounds mixed in with the occasional giggle.

"Yeah, she's pretty awesome," Nino sighed, peeling his eyes away from the girls to look at Adrien, who was still staring at Marinette. "…kinda like Marinette, huh?"

"Wh-What? I mean, yeah…she's awesome…" the blond mumbled, trying to look away from the girl in pink, but his emerald eyes were, for some reason, glued to her beauty and grace. Her laugh reminded him of his lady's and how it filled him love and light. Was it wrong for him to muse about Ladybug when Marinette was his date?

"Nino! Let's go back in, Marinette _needs_ to dance and let loose!" Alya sang, charging towards the two guys, dragging the blue-haired girl behind her by the wrist. She dropped Marinette's hand and looped her arm around Nino's then proceeded to run up the steps to the school entrance, Nino now being the one dragged along.

Marinette stood shyly before Adrien as the two brunets disappeared into the school.

"Shall we?" Adrien asked, gesturing to the main entrance and jutting his elbow out to the side. "You know, before we get caught in the rain," he joked. Marinette shakily looped her arm around his, linking them together as they followed the path their friends took to enter the dance.

Upon entering the high school, the two Parisians winced at the unexpected burst of loud music. The gym was decorated beautifully with streamers, balloons, cardboard cut-outs, and more, all Ladybug and Chat Noir themed. The lights were dim, but a disco ball hung above the center of the gym, which provided a decent amount of light. Marinette and Adrien agreed they would meet at the refreshments table after he dropped his bag containing his Chat Noir outfit at his locker.

Alya and Nino had run off to the dance floor, leaving Marinette by herself—she was okay with that, knowing Adrien would be coming back soon. The bluenette waited patiently by the table littered with pastries and baked goods, courtesy of her family bakery, and a large punch bowl. She figured that while she waited, she would snack on one of the red velvet cupcakes with red buttercream frosting. Marinette also swiped some cookies from the platter and dumped them in her purse for Tikki to nibble on, although her kwami already had plenty to eat.

Before she had gotten dressed, Marinette gifted Tikki a small platter of mini red macarons for their anniversary that she had made herself. The young designer had decorated them with black frosting spots to resemble her ladybug earrings. Tikki was so grateful and in awe at the sweets that she had nearly eaten all of the pastries in hardy any time at all. That was partially the reason Marinette tossed some chocolate chip cookies in her purse, knowing Tikki's sweet tooth probably left her with no more macarons.

Marinette was halfway finished eating her cupcake when she felt a tap on her shoulder and spun around to see Adrien standing next to her. His smile melted her heart and she couldn't help but to stare at his handsome face. She knew she had to say _something_ to him, another second of silence would be simply unbearable. Marinette didn't want to sound like a loser and she didn't have Alya's guidance as per usual, so she had to think quickly.

"Uh…cupcake?" Marinette jittered as she picked up chocolate cupcake with green frosting and offered it to him. Instead of accepting the sweet treat, he looked at her with a lop-sided grin before breaking out into a fit of laughter. "What is it?" Marinette asked, confused. Did he think she was a loser and was laughing at her lame attempt at conversation?

"You, um…you got a little…" he gestured to the lower half of her face, trying to put an end to his giggling fit.

"Huh?" Marinette set the cupcakes down on the table next to her rose and reached up to touch her chin, wondering what the blond was referring to.

"No, it's…frosting…right…" Adrien lifted his hand up to Marinette's face and, caressing her chin, slowly dragged his thumb across her bottom lip, "…here."

He pulled back to reveal the glob of red on his thumb and grabbed a napkin to wipe it off. Adrien, then, eagerly took the chocolate cupcake from the table and practically shoved the whole thing in his mouth. Marinette blankly stared at the boy and watched as he scarfed down the baked good, as if he never got to eat sweets.

 _Did he really just do that? To me? I mean I_ am _his date, but that doesn't mean he has to do flirty things like that! Wait, was he flirting with me? Me?! Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh!_ Marinette mentally freaked.

At last, Adrien's dazzling green eyes met up with Marinette's blue ones and he saw the utter dismay in her gaze. His eyes grew wide and he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, something unexpected from the son of a famous celebrity who was reared in a fancy mansion.

"Oh, jeez, I'm sorry," he began, "I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable or anything," Adrien face-palmed himself and looked at his feet, ashamed.

"N-No! It's fine…I mean, I didn't mind…" Marinette mumbled, "I just didn't expect it, that all, heh," Marinette tucked her loosely curled tendril behind her ear sheepishly when Adrien picked his head up and looked her in the eye again. It was Marinette's turn to burst into giggles, "Besides, you obviously have never eaten a cupcake before."

She swiped a napkin from the table and brought it up to his lips where the corner of his mouth was covered in a layer of cake crumbs and frosting as well. Marinette blushed furiously as she wiped his perfect mouth clean of any sugary treat. Their eyes met once again and they gazed into each other's as Marinette carefully trailed the napkin across the model's mouth. Adrien, in return, chuckled as a way to hide the blush creeping onto his cheeks, but the flashes from the disco ball didn't help to hide it.

"I guess we're even now," he joked breaking the eye contact.

"Yeah."

"So, are you parents coming to the dance tonight?" Adrien questioned, wanting to make conversation. He hardly got to talk to Marinette outside of being Chat Noir, so he wanted to take advantage of this night to get to chat with her as Adrien.

"No, actually, they had to work in the bakery," Marinette replied, "They'll be watching the interviews with Ladybug and Chat Noir on T.V., though. How about you? Is your dad coming?"

Adrien sighed before answering, "No, he…said he had important business to take care of, whatever that means. He probably had some fashion emergency or something."

"Oh, well…that doesn't mean w-we can't have fun, right?"

"Right!" Adrien beamed. After all, it was his night to do what he wanted with no one to stop him…except for Ladybug, maybe.

.

.

.

Adrien and Marinette had joined Alya on the dance floor, cheering Nino on as it was his turn to DJ the party. It took some convincing from the four to get Mr. Damocles to allow it, but their hard work paid off because Nino was _killing it_.

"Gotta admit, I like Nino's DJ'ing better than the Bubbler's!" Adrien shouted, pumping his fists in the air like everyone else.

"Yeah, I remember that! I still joke with him about that!" Alya hollered in response. She was hand in hand with Marinette, dancing like there was no tomorrow…but it looked more like they were having seizures than dancing.

"Dudes and dudettes!" Nino called out into the microphone, receiving a cheer from the mass of people, "Are you ready for Miraculous Day tonight?" The crowd of people screamed and clapped in response. "Well, in just ten short minutes, our city's very own super dope, super fly, superheroes will be here!"

"I am so pumped for this! My Ladyblog is gonna explode from the Open Questions part!" Alya cheered.

"So, Paris, who is ready…for Ladybug and Chat Noir!" Nino hollered. The gym erupted into screams and cheers from both young and old party-goers.

Marinette took the time of the crowd's absent-minded cheering to slip out of the gym, but little did she know, Adrien had done the same. While Adrien exited to the right, and Marinette to the left, they had the same destination: the locker room. Marinette's locker containing her black high heels was on the opposite side of the locker room as Adrien's, so the two hadn't run into each other. But, should either of them run into someone else, they would use the excuse of going to bathroom or feeling sick and needing air.

Marinette had let Tikki out of her purse and saw that she ate all the macarons and cookies she tossed in. She made her way to her locker and was about to retrieve her change of shoes when she heard girls screaming. At first, Marinette thought what she had heard was related to an akumatized victim, but when she saw a blur of blond run towards her followed by fangirls, she put the pieces together. Tikki zoomed back into her hiding place upon seeing the model bounding towards them.

"Marinette?" Adrien panted, the girls not too far behind him, being that they came from the other side of the locker room. The blond was getting his bag out of his locker when he heard the stampede of fangirls charging at him, so he snatched his backpack and bolted.

"A-Adrien? What's wro-" Marinette was interrupted by the sounds of screaming girls, some of their words barely understandable. From what she picked up, they were shouting things about how they loved Adrien, wanted to dance with him, marry him, get an autograph, and more. Obviously, these girls didn't attend Françoise DuPont High School.

Marinette reacted almost instantly without hesitation, grabbing the model's wrist and dashing away from the herd of fangirls. The two kept running as fast as their feet would carry them, luckily Marinette wasn't changed in her heels because that would be _messy_. The first thing that came to her mind was the art closet around the corner; she had been there a multitude of times for projects to know it would be big enough to hide two high schoolers.

Without a second thought, she swung the door to the closet open and shoved the both of them inside, slamming the door shut behind them after they tumbled to the floor for the second time tonight.

 **Now would probably be a good time to mention that I don't own Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Chat Noir, because if I did, you can bet your OTP's that I would turn this fanfic into actual episodes. Until next chapter, toodles! :D**


	9. Chapter 9: It's Technically Gay

Hello beautiful people! I am so, so sorry this chapter is late! Between school and writer's block, I had a harder time getting Chapter 9 posted. However, I _did_ put a couple Easter eggs in this chapter, so let me know if you can find them all! (Maybe I'll tell you in the beginning of next chapter if you don't get them.) Enjoy! :3

 **Chapter 9**

The art closet smelled of acrylic paint and dust and there was only a single lightbulb hanging from the center ceiling with a pull cord. Upon hitting the ground, Marinette's pouch popped open, causing the contents to spill out. Marinette quickly gathered her ladybug accessories as well as her phone before Adrien could notice, but Tikki was nowhere to be seen.

Adrien grunted before getting up and brushing his pants off, and pulling the cord that turned the light on. Marinette's eyes adjusted rather quickly to the newfound light and spotted Tikki on the opposite side of the seven-by-five-foot closet. She was about to fly towards Marinette, however, with the blond model so close, she would surely be seen.

Marinette motioned for the kwami to stay back and hidden from sight. Tikki dove into the closest thing to hide in; unfortunately, the nearest thing to the bug-like creature was Adrien's shoulder bag that laid at his feet. Marinette panicked, knowing full well that Tikki just flew into her crush's bag and put herself at risk for being seen.

Marinette averted her attention from the kwami and groaned before getting up and dusting herself off, Adrien offering his hand to help pull her to her feet. The two high schoolers put their ears to the door to see if they could still hear the crazed girls' screaming, and luckily for them, they only heard the faint music from the gym. Being that the coast was clear, Marinette reached for the brass handle to open the closet door, but it wouldn't budge. Marinette and Adrien were locked in the art closet together.

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 _Ew,_ Tikki thought, _What is that wretched smell?_ The petite red kwami could barely see anything inside the blond's bag, but the strong, stinky aroma made her eyes water and her throat sting. Tikki let out a hushed cough, clearing her throat and was careful not to be so loud that Adrien heard her—but, someone else heard.

"Hello?"

Tikki perked up and squinted her big blue eyes in an attempt to see where that all too familiar voice came from. Something clicked in Tikki's head, that voice mixed with that horrid stench…it could only be one kwami. "Plagg?"

"Who's asking? Wait… _Tikki_?" Plagg inquired, turning around to see the bug-like figure floating before him. His night-vision allowed him to see his fellow kwami in all her red, black-spotted adorableness.

"Plagg!" Tikki squealed, zipping forward and hugging the black cat.

"Tikki! I haven't seen you since the last miraculous wielders, Jacque and Zoe, right?" Plagg squawked, embracing his dearest friend. Then something hit him like a wheel of camembert, "Tikki…?"

The ladybug kwami pulled away from their hug as a puzzled look wandered onto her face. "Plagg…?" The two stared at each other intensely before their eyes swelled wider and their jaws dropped.

"That means…" the kwamis said in unison before gasping and clapping their paws over their tiny mouths, holding back their squeals.

"Well, we gotta tell those lovebirds!" Plagg shrilled, "I'm goin' up!" He started to fly to the opening of the book bag, but was stopped abruptly when he felt a tug on his tail. The black cat pouted at Tikki and folded his arms as he floated back down to her side.

"No! They can't know like _this_ …if they _do_ unearth each other's identities, it can't be from us," she retorted, furrowing her brows. Plagg rolled his eyes and roamed back to his beloved cheese—that he almost ate all of. He broke off another piece of camembert and tossed it into his mouth. "It's for their safety, Plagg. Who knows what Hawkmoth would do if he found out they cared that deeply for one another."

"Can't I just-"

"No."

"How about-"

"No."

"But-"

"No!"

Plagg groaned in frustration before leaning back on the wheel of camembert, inviting Tikki to join him. She confidently shook her head 'no', not wanting to be any closer to what was left of the wheel of stink than she needed to be.

"Come on, Tik! I'm dying from that kid's helpless love for Ladybug—well, _Marinette_. He never stops talking about all this lovey-dovey garbage and it makes me sick! I almost lost my appetite one time, for the love of cheese! This is a way to put an end to it and save my delicate eyes from _his_ goo-goo eyes at his masked sweetheart posters _and_ save my delicate ears from those sickeningly sweet love poems!"

"First of all, don't call me that," Tikki retorted dryly, rolling her eyes, "Second of all, I listen to Marinette's helpless romance towards Adrien all the time, so you don't get to complain. And third of all, you know the rules; we can't interfere with our charges discovering who the other is. Jacque and Zoé found out on their own, Louis and Emma, and so did Felix and Bridgette. The Great Guardian chose Marinette and Adrien because he believes they belong together and will find each other."

The black cat kwami grunted, accepting defeat against his oldest and dearest friend. "Fine. But you better bring me some of those cheese breads from the bakery if you want me to keep my mouth shut," Plagg smirked.

"You haven't changed a bit, silly cat," Tikki sighed and crossed her arms in exasperation, "I'm still deciding if that's a good thing or a bad thing."

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 _This can't be happening! Ladybug needs to be out there in less than ten minutes!_ Marinette mentally panicked. Little did she know, Adrien was thinking the same thing, only instead about how Chat Noir needed to be in the gym.

The two continued knocking and pushing on the door, trying to open it and escape the art closet, but it was no use. They cried out for help but no one came to their rescue. Marinette flailed her arms in distress and let out a heavy sigh before turning her back on the door and sliding down the wooden surface to the floor. The tile was cold on her bare legs and her hair bun made resting her head against the door uncomfortable.

Before she knew it, Adrien had plopped down next to her and released an equally exhausted sigh. Their thighs were barely grazing each other and a blush crept onto Marinette's cheeks, but she quickly shook away the butterflies in her stomach.

"We're locked in with no way of getting out!" Marinette panicked. _If only I could transform into Ladybug and use my lucky charm to get us out of here_ , she thought, _but I can't let Adrien find out I'm Ladybug._ Marinette noticed how cold it was in the closet and that she had her arms and legs exposed to the chill.

 _If only I could transform into Chat Noir and use my cataclysm to get us out of here_ , Adrien pondered, _but I can't let Marinette find out I'm Chat Noir._ Like a lightbulb went off in his head, Adrien leapt to his feet. "I got it! We'll just call for help," he suggested.

"We already tried that, remember? It didn't work, no one heard us. Everyone's in the gym waiting for Ladybug and Chat Noir," Marinette shrugged, looking at her feet. Adrien chuckled before elaborating, making the blue-head blush a deep shade of red.

"No, like on our phones," the model beamed, helping Marinette off the ground. He glanced at his bag, remembering his phone was in tucked away in there and started to move towards it. However, Marinette figured out the blond's intentions and remembered Tikki was hiding in his backpack.

"W-Wait!" she cried, throwing her hands out in front of her, signaling for the boy to stop. The bluenette feared Adrien would see her kwami and figure out that she was Ladybug, or worse, tell Alya about it, who might post it on her blog!

"What's wrong?" Adrien spun around, concern glazed over his eyes.

"I…uh…have my phone right, um…here!" Marinette swiftly pulled out her smartphone from her purse and held it above her head, as if showing off that she could make the call. Adrien smiled and nodded like he approved of using her phone rather than his. "So, who are we gonna call?"

The blond model grinned foolishly, not even thinking, before calling out, "Ghostbusters!" As soon as he realized what he blurted, he clamped his hands over his mouth and looked at the floor, embarrassed. He knew Marinette didn't like it when he joked around as Chat Noir, neither did his lady, so he didn't expect Marinette to actually _giggle_ at his remark.

"Heh, I guess I walked in to that one," she chuckled.

 _Wait, Marinette thought it was funny coming from me as Adrien? I bet if I said it as Chat Noir, she would have found it annoying,_ Adrien thought as he picked his head up and met her eyes. He felt his face flush lightly and looked away from her entrancing ocean eyes, rubbing the back of his neck.

"I know!" Marinette shouted, startling the model, "I'll phone Alya, she can come get us out!" The blue-haired girl turned away from Adrien and dialed her best friend's number, then held the device to her ear. "No service?"

Marinette threw her arms in the air in aggravation, however she wasn't aware the blond had crept up behind her until she heard him yelp. She accidentally punched her crush in the face. Marinette shakily pivoted to see Adrien clutching his nose with both his hands as the color drained from her face.

"Oh my gosh!" Marinette sputtered, "I'm _so_ sorry! I-I didn't know you w-were there a-and I—oh my gosh!" She didn't know if she should comfort him or not, being that it was _her_ fault he was now injured. It was like her worst nightmare; Marinette hurting Adrien and then ruining his modeling career because she broke his face!

"I'm fine…I think," Adrien winced, removing his hands from his nose, "Is it bad?"

Marinette's face grew even paler at the sight of Adrien's swollen and red-tinted nose with a small drop of blood peeking out from his right nostril. She thought she would faint right there, knowing what she did to the love of her life.

"N-No?" she fibbed.

"Oh, okay," Adrien smiled warmly at Marinette, trusting her judgement.

"But, um, when we get out of here, you _might_ wanna get it looked at…" Marinette mumbled, twiddling her fingers together.

Adrien opened his mouth to speak when they heard Nino, from the gym, making an announcement, _"People of Paris! We are two minutes away from Ladybug and Chat Noir! If you're ready, let me here you dudes and dudettes make some noise!"_ The crowd of people could be heard cheering, which only made the two trapped high schoolers feel worse and more anxious about their predicament.

Marinette felt a little less uneasy knowing Chat Noir would be there to hold down the fort until she got out of the art closet. Unfortunately, Adrien was counting on Ladybug at the same time, hoping she would stall for Chat Noir's arrival until he got out. Like their prayers were answered, the door knob jiggled and the wooden door swung open, startling the Parisians.

There, in the doorway, stood an old, Chinese man in a red, Hawaiian shirt and khaki shorts. He held his hands behind his back and hunched forward slightly, but his face bore a kindred smile. Marinette was instantly relieved as she recognized him as the Great Guardian of the miraculous: Master Fu.

Adrien didn't know the man who appeared severely undressed for the dance, though he did look familiar, but was still grateful for him coming to his and Marinette's rescue.

"Thank you, sir! Thank you so much!" the blond exclaimed.

While he was busy thanking Master Fu, Tikki took the time to fly back into Marinette's purse. The bluenette wasn't worried about her kwami being seen because Master Fu knew Marinette was Ladybug…after all, _he_ chose her to wield the earrings of the ladybug.

"You are quite welcome, young sir," Master Fu replied, nodding his head, "May I ask why you and your girlfriend are _here_ when Ladybug and Chat Noir will be soon arriving?" He smirked at the two high schoolers, winking at Adrien and causing a sudden redness to form on the model's face.

"Sh-She's, uh, not my-"

"I-I'm not his-"

Both Marinette and Adrien looked away, at anything but each other, after their stammering fiasco from Master Fu's comment. Adrien quickly hoisted his bag over his shoulder before turning to face the old man again.

"Thank you, again, Mr…?"

"Fu," Master Fu responded with a cheeky grin, "You can call me Mr. Fu."

"Well, thank you Mr. Fu, but if you'll excuse me," Adrien politely began, "I...need to use the restroom, heh," he blushed before scratching the back of his head and jostling his blond locks. "Marinette, are you coming?" He didn't want to leave Marinette, but he had to change into Chat Noir; Ladybug was probably waiting for him already and he had about a minute to get out there.

"Yeah, I'll catch up with you," Marinette jittered, knowing that was a lie because she had to change into Ladybug. Adrien nodded, smiled, and darted down the hallway, disappearing around the corner and into the men's bathroom.

"Ah, Miss Ladybug," Master Fu spoke up, a cheery tone in his voice.

"Thank you so much, Master! How did you know we were in there?" Marinette asked after embracing the Great Guardian in a tight hug. She pulled away and looked into the old man's warm eyes, a hint of playfulness to them.

"It was me," Tikki chirped, poking her head out of the bag. As if on cue, a small, green, turtle-like figure floated out from behind Master Fu and in front of the blue-haired girl.

"I sensed Tikki's call for help, leading us to you and Cha-ahem, _the boy_ ," Wayzz added, "Hello, again, Ladybug," the turtle kwami then beamed at Marinette, making her giggle.

"Hello to you, too, Wayzz," Marinette retorted, tickling Wayzz's belly with her finger and causing a laugh to erupt from the turtle kwami.

"Ahem," Master Fu interjected, redirecting the attention of the two kwamis and the girl to himself, "I also come bearing a warning. I fear Hawkmoth may try something soon, so be alert…but still enjoy yourself," he smiled.

"Will do, Master Fu," Marinette said assuredly, "But, so long as we have the book and our miraculous, we're in the clear, right?"

"One would hope. They do serve in our advantage..."

" _'Sup my homies! Are you pumped yet? 'Cause in one minute, Paris' very own Ladybug and Chat Noir will be on this very stage!"_ Marinette heard Nino cheer, exciting the crowd of people in the gym.

"Go, Ladybug," Master Fu nudged Marinette, chuckling.

Marinette nodded, a grin tugging at the corners of her lips, and turned to bolt down the hallway and vanish around the corner in the locker area. Wayzz tapped the Chinese man's shoulder repetitively with a sense of urgency.

"Master," the green kwami frantically said, "What about Hawkmoth? You said he was planning something awful in the near future! Don't you think a party is _not_ top priority for the city's protectors?"

"For everything they have done for Paris, let Ladybug and Chat Noir have tonight," Master Fu assured, "Let them celebrate today, and tomorrow we shall begin work on our plan to put an end to Hawkmoth's reign of evil and darkness."

 **That's right, I** ** _had_** **to bring Master Fu into this fanfic because how could I not? It's freaking Master Fu! Anyway, I hoped you liked this chapter as it took me longer than usual to write. As always, please leave your review on what you like, what you don't like, what you want to see happen, and or what predictions you have. Also, leave a review if you picked up on my Easter eggs! Until next chapter, toodles! :D**


	10. Chapter 10: A Promise

Hello beautiful people! About those Easter eggs from last chapter...Tikki mentions several names (Louis, Emma, Felix, and Bridgette) and if you haven't picked up on it: Louis and Emma are two of the three names Marinette wants to name her future kids, and Felix and Bridgette are the original 2D anime characters that Adrien and Marinette replaced for the 3D animation.

 **Chapter 10**

Adrien burst through the doors of the boys' bathroom and locked the main entrance door behind him. He tossed his bag on the ground by one of the sinks, earning a yelp and scowl from Plagg as he flew out in the open.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Plagg grumbled, "I'm very fragile, I'll have you know! So don't go throwing me around like a ragdoll," the black kwami crossed his arms and turned up his nose at the blond model boy.

Adrien cocked an eyebrow at the black cat creature before finally glancing up at the mirror; his jaw dropped in shock as his emerald eyes widened at the guy staring back at him. He slowly brought his hand up to his nose, bewildered by the red and puffy bulge that resided there.

"M-Marinette said it wasn't that bad!" the model croaked, touching his finger to the blood dripping from his nostril.

"Well, it's not like your nose fell off…" Plagg rolled his cat eyes as he floated next to his charge.

"I'm _bleeding_!" Adrien cried, "Father is going to kill me…wait, I-I can't see Ladybug like _this_!" Adrien grabbed a paper towel and ran it under some lukewarm water before dabbing the welt on his face and wiping away the blood.

"Relax, kid, the mask will hide it," the petite cat kwami retorted as he flew into the backpack to retrieve the homemade Chat Noir mask. Plagg dropped it in Adrien's hands, who put it on to see it did, in fact, cover up the swollen nose.

"But, I still look like me—as in I still look like Adrien," Adrien mumbled, studying himself in the mirror.

He reached into his shoulder bag and pulled out the black blazer and green tie, as well as the clip-on cat ears, and laid them out over the sink. Adrien yanked his pink tie off and tossed into the opening of his bag before donning the green necktie and black suit jacket. He fastened the buttons down the front of his jacket and secured the ears Marinette made in his blond locks. He stood back to look himself over, an unsatisfied look manipulating his facial features.

"It's the hair," Plagg piped up.

"Huh?"

"Here, let me," the kwami stated with a smug grin on his face. He charged for Adrien's head, causing him to flinch, but Plagg landed in the model's golden hair instead. He tossed around and disarranged the blond locks until it looked like Adrien just rolled out of bed. The black cat backed away from his handiwork and gave a nod of approval. The boy spun around to look in the mirror again and was extremely pleased with his appearance.

"I think that did the trick, Plagg," Adrien squealed with delight, meticulously examining his reflection and running a hand through his wild hair. He scooped up his backpack and slung it over his shoulder before heading towards the exit. "Now, to join my lady on stage."

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Marinette charged into the girls' bathroom and checked under the stalls to make sure she was alone before locking the entrance door. The last thing she needed was someone walking in while she was changing. Marinette had stopped at her locker on the way to drop off the rose from Adrien as well as swap her ballet flats for her shiny black heels; in Tikki's opinion, running in heels wasn't the most graceful picture, at least when Marinette did it. The ladybug kwami told Marinette to wait before putting her heels on, but the bluenette's stubbornness ignored Tikki's suggestion.

"Okay, okay, okay…" Marinette mumbled to herself shakily as she placed her purse on the rim of the sink, slipped off her baby pink dress, and turned it inside out—something she also should have taken her heels off for—before pulling it on again.

Unlike the 'Marinette dress', the 'Ladybug dress' was a bright red, much like Ladybug's suit, and was covered in medium-sized black spots. While the two dresses had the same form-fitting bodice, strapless sweetheart neckline, and swooping back, the Ladybug dress' skirt was layered with ruffles up to the waist. Where the ruffles stopped, a thick, black ribbon was tied around into a bow in the back. Marinette glanced up in the mirror with an approving smile about how the finished dress looked.

Marinette shuffled over to her pink pouch and pulled out her ladybug-print mask and red gloves. She secured the ladybug mask on her face and slipped on the red gloves that came up to her elbows. The blue-haired girl looked up at the mirror before taking her bun out and letting her loose curls hang down at her shoulders and frame her face. She recalled Chat saying her hair looked nice down, so maybe he'd think Ladybug's hair looked nice down, too. Wait, why should it matter what Chat Noir thought?

"All my hard work down the drain," Tikki sighed as her chosen let her blue-black locks fall to her freckled shoulders. Marinette, in return, gave the red kwami a loving smile.

"You can help me fix it afterwards," Marinette offered with a smile before turning back to the sink. "Hold this for a sec, please," she said as she passed Tikki her smartphone. She turned her pink purse inside out so the red inside was now facing out. Her kwami dropped the phone back in the pouch before Marinette clicked it shut.

The Parisian girl started for the door but before she unlocked it, she felt something tug at her hair. Marinette pivoted around to see Tikki wearing a smirk on her adorable spotted, red face. The blue-haired girl shot the kwami a look of confusion, causing the bug-like creature to speak up.

"Forgetting something?" she voiced.

"Again? I don't think so…I have everything like I did before I left home," Marinette shrugged. Tikki gestured to Marinette's neck, painting on an even more bewildered expression onto the girl's face. Marinette touched her fingers to her chest and felt a cold metal chain hanging from her neck. "My necklace! Thanks, Tikki!"

Marinette fumbled with the clasp in back to remove the necklace, but it took a helping hand, or rather, paw, from the ladybug kwami. Tikki tossed the cat necklace into the void that was Marinette's purse before exiting the bathroom. "Now to see my silly kitty."

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Marinette fiddled with her dress' ruffles as she stood shyly outside of the closed gymnasium's doors. She peered into the gym to see the crowd of people waiting—some patiently and some impatiently. Marinette wasn't all that surprised that Chat Noir hadn't shown up yet, after all he tends to be a tad late to the battlefield.

"Evening, M'Lady."

Marinette jumped at the hushed voice and spun around quickly only to be greeted by a masked blond. She instantly recognized her homemade Cat Noir mask and ears, provoking a smirk of satisfaction to wander onto her lips.

"You clean up nice, Kitty," Marinette joked as she crossed her arms and shifted her weight to the side.

"And you look beautiful as always, Ladybug," Adrien replied, the sight of his lady taking his breath away. "But, I didn't think it was possible for you to look even more radiant, like you do tonight." He knelt down on one knee and took her gloved hand in his bare hand to kiss her knuckles. The blond was most surprised that Ladybug actually _let_ him kiss her hand instead of the usual 'push-him-away-by-the-nose'.

"Th-Thank you," Marinette blushed slightly, pulling her arm back to her side. She noticed that Chat Noir hadn't moved his right hand from behind his back, and before she could question it, Chat spoke up.

"This is for you, M'Lady," he swung his right arm around from behind his back and presented a rose to the bluenette. It was a single red rose with a black, lacey ribbon tied around the stem. "Happy Anniversary."

"That's what I forgot!" Marinette brought her red-gloved hand to her Ladybug mask and let out an exasperated groan. Adrien looked at her, confused, and was about to say something before his lady cried out again, "I completely forgot the present I made for you! I'm such a-"

"Hey, it's fine, don't worry about it," Adrien assured, grabbing his masked lady's attention, "Besides, seeing you is the best gift I could ever ask for." He extended his hand that was clutching the red rose out to Marinette.

"Aw, Chat, don't make me blush," she giggled before reaching her hand out to accept the flower, but the blush had already crept onto her cheeks.

Marinette hesitantly took the rose from the masked Adrien, their fingers brushing, and she noticed something else tied to the flower's stem. She studied the silver, infinity ring woven into the black ribbon and stared up at the blond, wide-eyed.

"I-It's a promise ring…" Adrien sheepishly said, scratching the back of his head, "…to represent that…one day…w-we'll be together," he looked down at the floor, avoiding his lady's gaping expression. The silence between the two was deafening, and Adrien was too embarrassed to meet his lady's bluebell eyes. _Maybe I went too far with the ring?_ he wondered, _Maybe I overstepped my boundaries? I mean, it's not like I actually proposed to Ladybug, but it still might have been too much…_

"Chat, I-"

 _"Dudes and dudettes, Ladybug and Chat Noir will be here any second now!"_ The gym erupted into cheers and applause at the DJ's announcement. Marinette turned to Adrien only to see him right by her side with his elbow jutted out to towards her.

"Shall we, M'Lady?" Adrien beamed.

Marinette stared at him a moment, before looping her arm around his and grinning widely at her kitty. She grasped the red rose in her other hand and rubbed the promise ring between her thumb and forefinger. "Let's do this." The two pushed open the doors together and entered the gym, almost deafened by the shouts and cheers they received upon walking in.

 **As always, please leave your thoughts in the reviews: what you like, what you don't like, what you want to see happen, and or what you predict for future chapters. Keep in mind I'm open to suggestions! Until next chapter, toodles! :3**


	11. Chapter 10: Alternate Ending

Hello beautiful people! This is an alternate ending to Chapter 10 that has nothing to do with the actual storyline, it's just a different direction "Miraculous Day" could have gone in. Shout out to ShallowAssumptions for the idea for this...it made me laugh out loud so I _had_ to make an alternate ending for it. This is mainly a "what-if" alternate ending, basically "what if Nino _didn't_ make the announcement that cut off Marinette talking to Adrien before they entered the gym because he was dragged away by Alya?" Enjoy! :3

 **Chapter 10 - Alternate Ending**

"Alya, come on...I gotta make the announcement," Nino whined as the brunette dragged him out of the gym. Alya rounded the corner and parked herself and the DJ at the end of the hallway, a way's away from the entrance doors to the dance, but said doors still in sight.

"You've made announcements at least every minute! Besides, I need to catch Ladybug and Chat Noir entering the scene on my live-stream for the Ladyblog," Alya retorted, holding her camera phone up and aiming it at the gym doors.

"But why do _I_ have to-"

"Shush! Here come's Ladybug!"

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"I-It's a promise ring…" Adrien sheepishly said, scratching the back of his head, "…to represent that…one day…w-we'll be together," he looked down at the floor, avoiding his lady's gaping expression. The silence between the two was deafening, and Adrien was too embarrassed to meet his lady's bluebell eyes. _Maybe I went too far with the ring?_ he wondered, _Maybe I overstepped my boundaries? I mean, it's not like I actually proposed to Ladybug, but it still might have been too much…_

"Chat, I'm touched...really, I am," Marinette began, "But I can't return your feelings. There's...someone else. I'm sorry," she bowed her head and handed the rose back to her partner. She felt horribly for giving the ring back to Adrien, but thought it was only fair so that he could give it to someone else. However, she was not expecting the almost comical scowl he flashed at her.

"Seriously? Do you _know_ how much that ring cost? I mean, I paid for it out of my own allowance and now my father is probably going to kill me! First my nose, now this? Ladybug… _why_?" Adrien blurted out.

"Your nose?" Marinette mused, confusion woven in her voice. She studied him and his sudden outburst, and was about to say something, but the blond beat her to it.

"Yeah! And you know what? Screw your 'no-one-can-know-who-we-really-are' rule!" he peeled off the black Chat Noir mask and threw it forcefully to the ground, " _Surprise!"_ Adrien hissed sarcastically, leaving Marinette with a blank, unreadable expression.

The bluenette couldn't believe what just unfolded before her...all this time Adrien liked her? Or at least, a side of her...she had to say something, but didn't know how to respond.

"Oh, sh-"

"I just-" Adrien interrupted, "A year of pining for you and-ARGH! I'll...see you 'round, Bug." The blond model turned and started to walk away when Marinette called out to him.

"Um…try not to get akumatized? Think happy thoughts?" she cupped her hands around her mouth like a megaphone, hoping her crush would hear her.

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Adrien mumbled as he stormed off, leaving Marinette with her mouth agape and jumbles of thoughts swimming through her head.

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"Oh. My. God." Alya spoke just above a whisper, "Adrien is...is..."

"My man, Adrien is Chat Noir?" Nino finished the shocked girl's thoughts, still hunched over Alya in their hiding spot. "Wait, did you stop the live-stream?"

"Duh, Nino, I'm not stupid," the blogger looked down at her phone to see she did _not_ , in fact, end the live-stream on the Ladyblog. Her eyes grew as wide as saucers and realization struck her like a sledge hammer. " _Crap_!"

"Alya!"

"Relax," the brunette waved her hand in attempt to shush the DJ, "I'm sure no one was watching...heh..."

Nino peered over his date's shoulder to look at her smartphone and his jaw dropped at the percentage of people in the city currently viewing Alya's live-stream. "99% of Paris?!" the brunet boy shrieked, staring in disbelief at the phone's screen. His glasses nearly fell off his face at the percentile of viewers who just witnessed Chat Noir's unmasking.

"Well...1% doesn't know..."

"And who would that _1%_ be?" Nino wailed in exasperation.

"Um, technically Ladybug wasn't watching it on my blog?" Alya suggested but only earned a glare from the boy in the baseball cap. "Oh, God, what have I done?!"

"Alya," Nino calmly said, grabbing the girl by her shoulders and staring into her hazel eyes, "You done effed up now."

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Somewhere in Paris, Gabriel Agreste could be heard flipping a table.

 **Ta da! I tweaked a few things from the original idea, but credit still goes to ShallowAssumptions (You are a beautiful person, thank you again for sharing!) I know this may seem out of character for Adrien, but if you think back to the Christmas Special, Adrien had a similar outburst…though, maybe not as extreme. Anyway, because this is an alternate ending, the next update will be a double chapter :3 If you have any ideas for alternate endings to chapters in the future, don't hesitate let me know in the reviews. Until next chapter, toodles! :D**


	12. Chapters 11 & 12: The Truth

Hello beautiful people! Holey moley, these chapters are beyond late. I have a good excuse though: One, this was a double chapter, which means it takes longer to write. Two, writer's block mixed with "how can I put what's in my head on paper?". Three, remember what I said about school work coming first? Yeah, high school has been a thorn in my side... Four, I may or may not have binge-watched the entire first season of Miraculous again...more than once... :3 Anyway, here are Chapters 11 & 12, enjoy! :D

 **Chapter 11**

The two superheroes were beginning to feel overwhelmed by the shouts and hollers from reporters and students trying to get the duo's attention. The spotlights shone brightly down on Marinette and Adrien as they took center stage in front of Nino's DJ equipment. Marinette held a microphone in one hand and the red rose in the other as she stood before the cheering crowd of Parisians. All she could hear was a multitude of people yelling her and Chat Noir's names after the blue-haired girl announced they officially started the 'Open Questions'.

"Ladybug! Ladybug! Nadja Chamack, don't be bemused, it's just the news!" the female reporter called out, catching the pair's attention, "Do you plan on telling anybody your identities?"

"Unfortunately, no," the bluenette began, "Not that we don't trust anyone with knowing our alter-egos, but it's for your safety. Knowing who we really are could put you in danger by making you a potential target for Hawkmoth. So, no, we won't be revealing our identities…anything else to add, Kitty?" Marinette passed the microphone off to her feline partner, winking at him as she did so.

"Well, exactly what my lady said," Adrien chirped, "But we also would like to keep our identities a secret so people don't swarm us as our civilian selves. I think I can speak for both of us when saying we'd like to live normal lives, too," then the blond muttered under his breath away from the microphone, "…if you call my life normal."

"On the nosey," Marinette exclaimed as she bopped his nose with her gloved finger. "Chat and I don't even who the other is, and we intend to keep it that way," as she said this, she failed to see how her partner cringed slightly and bowed his head. He would love to know his lady's identity, but she made it clear she didn't want to tell him any time soon. "Are there any other questions?"

"Yes! Ladybug, over here!" a young man with glasses shouted as he waved his arms frantically in the air to grab the superheroes' attention, "Paris wants to know if you two are a couple!" Marinette's face froze right after the reporter spoke out to them; she had not prepared an answer for that question.

"I-uh-I," she stammered, "Chat Noir and I, we're partners…we're friends, and-"

"Never say never, LB. There's always room for our relationship to grow," Adrien interrupted, swinging his arm around the girl in red's bare shoulders and winking at the crowd before him.

" _Actually_ , we-" Marinette was cut off by a girl's voice in the front row…an unmistakable voice that was none other than a certain brunette in a lavender dress.

"Ladybug! Ladybug! Ladybug! It's me, Alya! I run the blog about you!" the aspiring reporter was jumping up and down with excitement, waving her phone in the air. Nino stood beside her, an unamused look of embarrassment staining his face. "I have a couple questions for you! Please!"

Marinette couldn't help but to smile lovingly at her best friend; how could she not call on her to ask a few questions? "Go ahead, Alya," she sweetly voiced.

Alya's eyes lit up with child-like glee and without the shield of her glasses, the bluenette feared her hazel eyes might pop out of her head.

"Well, my first question is: what are your feelings towards Chat Noir?" she squealed, holding her phone up to record the blue-haired girl's answer. Marinette froze in place…Tikki had asked her a similar question last night, and she kept tripping over her words. She didn't know how to respond without giving Chat the wrong idea, and everyone had their eyes on her waiting for her to reply.

"Um…well…" Marinette glanced to her partner and felt the sweat roll down her back, gosh, those stage lights were hot! "H-He's a good fighter and I trust him with my life…he's…loyal, and honest, and smart…I'm glad to have such an amazing person as my partner."

 _She totally avoided the question!_ Adrien thought, _Does she not want to announce to Paris how much she loves me? Yeah, that's it._

"Okay…" Alya stretched her voice out, skeptical about the girl in the spotted dress' answer, "Anyway, questions two and three: is it true you are a student at this school and how old are you? I mean, you definitely don't look thousands of years old," she winked.

"Actually, I can't disclose any information that would jeopardize my secret identity and-" suddenly Marinette was cut off when a bright blue beam of light zapped her. "I'm sixteen years old and yes, I do attend this school," she clamped her gloved hands over her mouth in shock. _Why did I say that?!_ she internally screamed.

Adrien was the only one to notice the blue ray that struck her from behind, everyone else simply broke out into murmurs immediately following Marinette's forced answer. That's when a menacing laugh silenced the room. From the back corner of the gym, a lurking figure stepped into the light to reveal himself.

He was dressed in a blue skin-tight suit with a thick white stripe down the sides. He wore a white mask that was in a similar fashion to Hawkmoth's, except for his black hair spiked out on top. He had two silver wristlets which the beams were fired from and a silver magnifying glass shape was plastered on his chest. His bright pink eyes screamed anger and revenge and he flared his nostrils in disgust as he stood before the crowd.

"I am the Alibi Obliterator, and you have no choice but to tell the truth! Your lies can't fool anyone anymore!" the akumatized villain boomed. The mass of people screamed in terror and huddled away from Alibi Obliterator.

"Ladybug, you were hit!" Adrien exclaimed frantically, catching the blue-head's attention.

"That's why I answered Alya's question. I didn't have a choice but to tell… _the truth_!" Marinette added. "That's his power, he makes you tell the truth, like some sort of 'truth beam' thing."

"So, you're sixteen _and_ you're a student here?" Adrien smirked, jiggling his eyebrows at his lady.

 _No._ "Yes." _Argh! Now he knows I'm a high school student and in eleventh grade at that!_ Marinette put her hands on her hips and rolled her eyes at the blond boy in the black suit. "We better transform…fighting one of Hawkmoth's victims would be an added challenge in a dress and heels."

Adrien's emerald eyes widened and he face-palmed himself as he let out an aggravated sigh. Marinette looked at him confused, her bluebell eyes trying to see what was bothering her partner.

"I don't have my kwami," he admitted.

"What do you mean you 'don't have your kwami'?!" she questioned, flinging her arms out to the side to express her frustration.

"I mean, I don't have my kwami with me," he shrugged, displaying a guilty smile on his face; just like a cat who was just caught clawing up a pillow.

"Why?" Marinette was holding her patience together by a thread, one more slip-up from tonight and that thread would surely unravel.

"No, M'Lady, I have my kwami, but I don't," he spewed out, hoping to ease his partner in crime-fighting's burst of frustration.

"I'm not getting you…"

"He's just, um, not in the gym, heh…" he scratched the back of his head nervously before continuing, "I'll be right back, I _purr_ -omise. You trust me, don't you?"

"Of course I trust you. You are one of my best friends and partner, I trust you with my life…just not with my secrets," Marinette's face paled after she uncontrollably spoke the words to the green-eyed guy. _Why did I have to say all of that? The truth beam must stay in effect until I use my miraculous spell._

Just like that, Adrien winked at Marinette before turning and bolting off the stage, disappearing behind the gymnasium's doors. There was no need for Marinette to run off and hide in order to transform, but even if she had to, everyone was cowering and hiding their faces so they wouldn't see her anyway. Tikki flew out of her hiding place in the red purse and, floating in front of Marinette, gave her a nod and smile.

"Tikki, spots on!"

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Adrien ran down the halls and sharply turned the corner to reach his locker. His face was flushed red and he was panting heavily after sprinting out of the gym, he knew Ladybug needed his help.

"Plagg! Plagg!" he gasped, somewhat out of breath.

"I'm sorry, Plagg is currently unavailable at the moment, but you can leave a message, and a wheel of camembert, at the beep. _Beep_!," a disembodied, raspy voice called out.

"Oh, no! You are _not_ doing that again—Ladybug needs our help!" Adrien cried, searching for the black kwami.

"But I don't want to…" Plagg whined. A smirk tugged at Adrien's lips as he remembered as long as that troublesome cat was in the area, he could still transform.

"Plagg, claws out!" Adrien bellowed whilst punching his closed fist at the air in front of him. Suddenly, a blur of black whirled past him and tumbled into the silver ring, turning it black.

"No! My cheese!" the cat kwami yelped as he was sucked into the miraculous stone.

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"No one likes a party crasher, Alibi!" Ladybug called out with her hands on her hips and her feet planted shoulder length apart.

"Nice one, M'Lady," Chat Noir said smugly as he stood next to the spotted heroine, "When did you have time for pigtails? Not that I'm complaining," he voiced, playing with one of Ladybug's pigtails the way a cat would play with a toy on a string.

"They come with the costume, Kitty," she smirked, brushing her partner's clawed hands off of her. She glared her bluebell eyes in the direction of the akumatized boy and figured he, too, was a high school student. The blue-haired girl turned back to Chat Noir, a confident smile stretched across her face. "I bet the akuma is in the bracelet."

"Yeah, but which one? There're two identical ones," Chat added.

"Better play it safe and get both," Ladybug exclaimed, "I'll keep him busy while you get everyone out of here and to safety."

Chat nodded and turned around to run towards the crowd of people who were backed into a corner of the gym. Whist he was filing all of the Parisians out through the doors and telling them to hide in classrooms, Chat Noir heard a voice call out his name…but not _his_ name.

"Adrien! Dude! Where are you?" Nino shrilled, his head spinning around frantically trying to spot his blond best bud. Cat's ears drooped, he felt bad for worrying his friend so much; not to mention, he and Alya weren't leaving the gym since they're still looking for him.

"I saw your friend already leave the gym, don't worry," he spoke up, resting a gloved hand on the DJ's shoulder, "Now, you two need to get to safety, which directly translates to: anywhere but here."

Alya gently back-handed the brunet against his shoulder, "See? I told you Adrien probably got out already with Marinette." Chat's green eyes grew wide and he began to feel sick at Alya's words… _Marinette_.

"Y-You mean my pri-er, Marinette isn't with you?" he shakily inquired. Alya shrugged and shook her head 'no', causing Chat Noir to grow even more from concerned for the bluenette.

"She was with Adrien, so if he's safe, then-" Nino was cut off by the feline hero.

"No! She wasn't with him!" _I shouldn't have left her! Why do I get myself into these situations? Maybe she's already in a good hiding spot? Maybe Ladybug has seen her?_ The blond tried to calm his panic but he couldn't help but beat himself up for Marinette's absence. "You two, get out of here and take cover."

"What? No way! I gotta stay and record this for my blog!" Alya protested, waving her phone in Chat Noir's face, the ladybug charm on it swung back and forth vigorously as she shook the phone. "Not to mention, we don't know where Marinette is!"

"Chat Noir!" Ladybug called out, snatching the blond's attention away from his two friends, "I could use a little help over here!" She was nearly backed against the walls, where the bleachers were pushed in, and deflecting blue rays with her yo-yo. Chat knew he had to help his lady and didn't have time to put up with the stubborn, brunette blogger.

"Now!" the black-clad hero ordered the two before running off to help Ladybug. He craned his neck back at Alya, who was being dragged out of the gym by Nino. "I'll find your friend and make sure she's okay!"

 **Chapter 12**

 _Eric pushed up out of his seat and climbed down the steps that led to the front of the classroom, where his two partners stood impatiently waiting. He just had to be paired with Chloe and Sabrina for the project. Chloe didn't even help, but luckily for him, he had Sabrina's assistance on the assignment. The red-head seemed equally ecstatic to have another partner help her out…she kept going on about how Marinette Dupain-Cheng was just like Chloe and failed to do anything with her for a project last year._

 _As the brunet continued descending the stairs, he caught a glimpse of a sly and intimidating look on the blonde's face. When he approached the two, he looked at the screen that was pulled down over the chalkboard and his eyes grew wide._

 _"Where's my name on the credits? Who changed it?" Eric questioned the two girls._

 _"Why would your name be on it since you didn't do any of the work?" Chloe snapped as she flipped her ponytail and crossed her arms. She grinned and cackled, then she nudged Sabrina, who hesitantly nodded in agreement._

 _"What?" he gasped, "But_ you _are the one who didn't do any work on it! Sabrina and I did everything!" Eric's outburst caught Miss Bustier's ear and she walked over to the trio._

 _"Is there a reason why you haven't started your presentation?" she asked sweetly, but she was clearly annoyed at how Chloe picked another fight with a student._

 _"Yes, Miss, Eric didn't help out at all with the project! He made me and Sabrina do it! It's simply ridiculous, utterly ridiculous!" Chloe cried out then turned and sobbed dramatically into Sabrina's shoulder. Miss Bustier eyed the three students and cocked her eyebrow at them before directing her attention towards the red-head in glasses._

 _"Is this true Sabrina?"_

 _"Y-Yes, Miss," Sabrina jittered after receiving a threatening glare from the icy blue eyes of the blonde next to her. Eric looked betrayed as he gawked at Sabrina's answer, who shot him a look of sympathy._

 _"See?" Chloe evilly laughed, "My alibi checks out…he's clearly lying," the wretched girl pointed an accusatory finger at the stunned brunet boy._

 _"No! She's the one who's lying!" he cried before storming out of the classroom. He was too engulfed in anger and betrayal, that Eric didn't notice the purple butterfly fluttering towards him._

.

.

.

Ladybug had swung her yo-yo and was able to entrap the Alibi Obliterator's left arm…unfortunately, he grabbed the string with his right hand and spun around in circles. Ladybug held on for dear life, but the sudden velocity sent her flying into the refreshments table.

"Lady down," she groaned in pain before she bounced to her feet and twirled her yo-yo around. She charged at the Alibi Obliterator and threw a round-house kick to his jaw, knocking him back a few steps.

"I'm looking for Chloe Bourgeois!" the Alibi Obliterator boomed.

"Of course you are," Ladybug mumbled before speaking louder, "Good luck finding her, she got away and is hiding like everyone else! You have _me_ to deal with!"

She threw a front punch at his chest, but he blocked her attack. However, in doing so, he left himself wide open for Chat Noir to extend his baton into his side. It was the Alibi Obliterator's turn to go flying across the room and land with a 'thud' on the cool floor of the gym.

His pink eyes burned with rage as he turned to face the black-clad superhero who wounded him. "Why, you son of a-"

"Nah uh, uh! Language, please, you're in a school environment!" Chat smirked as he pole-vaulted over to the akumatized boy. Chat Noir began whacking his staff at the Alibi Obliterator, but his reflexes were impressive as he kept blocking the attacks.

As the blond hammered down his baton from overhead, the blue-clad akuma victim grabbed onto the metal staff and pulled it out of Chat's hands. He then used the magical stick like a baseball bat and took a swing at Chat Noir, hitting him to the other side of the gymnasium. Ladybug charged at the Alibi Obliterator, spinning her yo-yo at her side like a shield and yelling out a battle cry.

"Ladybug, do tell me, what's your favorite color?" Alibi Obliterator menacingly asked. The spotted heroine stopped dead in her tracks as soon as the villain spoke.

"Pink." She answered, wondering why she had fully come to a stop and didn't continue running towards the akumatized student. Her lack of focus proved a weakness when she saw a silver baton flash in front of her eyes before she was struck down. "Wha…huh?" she groggily muttered as she tried to pick herself up.

"Need a paw M'Ladybug?" a voice sounded from behind the bluenette. She pivoted around to see her partner with his gloved hand extended out to her. She groaned at his joke but eagerly took his clawed hand and he assisted in pulling her to her feet. "Looks like he has leverage over you."

"You too…he's got your stick," she piped up.

"Yeah, so we'll just have to get it back," Chat added, "Which will be a smidge difficult being that you can't get close without him literally stopping you every time he asks a question."

"Right, and we can't risk you getting hit by that truth beam either," Ladybug mused, deep in thought as she tapped her gloved finger to her chin, "I'm gonna have to get close enough to snatch back your weapon and capture that akuma."

"But how? You can't get within a few feet of him without him saying something that you'll have to answer—honestly too, might I add," then Chat gasped and the color drained from what was visible of his face, "What if he asks about who you are…you know, _under_ the mask?"

"You worry too much, Kitty," she giggled as she placed her hands on her partner's shoulders and looked him deep in the eyes, "I'll be fine. I'm a lucky bug, after all!" She winked at him before pulling out her yo-yo and flinging it at the basketball hoop across the room and pulling herself forward, towards Alibi Obliterator.

She landed gracefully, something Marinette only dreamed of doing being that she was so clumsy, and stood strongly before the boy in blue and white. The Alibi Obliterator laughed mockingly at the blue-haired superheroine before matching Ladybug's stance. An outline of a purple butterfly appeared around the boy's pale face as he furrowed his brows and grinned.

"Oh, Ladybug…" he sang, "Hawkmoth's given me a great idea: Ladybug, who are you, _really_?"

"I really am—mph," Ladybug was cut off when a black-gloved hand clamped over her mouth. When she was finished mumbling her answer about her identity, she turned her head around to see Chat Noir standing behind her. She noticed his hand was still on her face and she cocked an eyebrow at him, signaling for the feline hero to retract his right hand.

"What did I tell you?" he remarked as he flashed a crooked grin at his lady.

"Okay, I admit, you were right," she sighed in defeat, but quickly strengthened her smirk. "Lucky charm!" she called out and she threw her yo-yo in the air, causing a flash of pink light and a swarm of ladybugs that generated a small red and black-spotted object that fell from above, "Earplugs? Hm…just what the bug ordered…"

Ladybug immediately put the earplugs in each ear and faced her partner, "Now I can't hear what he asks!" she shouted at him, making him flinch, "There goes his leverage!"

"LB, you're yelling," he winced as he rubbed his cat ears tenderly.

"What?" she yelled back.

"Never mind…go get 'em," he winked and pointed in the direction of the Alibi Obliterator and Ladybug gave him a nod, meaning she understood what he meant. She turned and made a run for it, straight towards the akumatized victim who was busy talking to Hawkmoth in his head.

Ladybug was able to surprise attack him by doing a running, jumping, flying side-kick from behind and knocking the Alibi Obliterator to the ground. Ladybug could only see him mouthing words, and his face grew surprised as his 'asking-a-question' tactic didn't work that time. The spotted heroine used his distraction and shock as a window to swipe the baton back from the Alibi Obliterator and toss it to Chat Noir.

"Well, well, well," the villain muttered and he scurried to his feet, "Looks like Lady-bitch has a few tricks up her sleeves…"

"Okay, that's it!" Chat Noir screamed as he lunged for the Alibi Obliterator, "What did I say? Watch your profanity! _No one_ , and I mean _NO ONE_ , talks to my lady like that, Alibi O-shit-erator!" He continued to throw a combination of punches and kicks at the akumatized boy; some attacks were blocked, and some hit the Alibi Obliterator right in the kisser.

All the while, Ladybug had no idea what the two had said before they broke out into such an aggressive fight, but she knew she couldn't let her partner be zapped by the blue ray. The bluenette summersaulted over to the fighting pair, and used her yo-yo to deflect any time the Alibi Obliterator fired a truth beam at Chat Noir. Ladybug was fed up with the repetitiveness of their battle with this akumatized student, that she finally wrapped her magical yo-yo around the Alibi Obliterator's wrists, tying them together in front.

Ladybug dashed up to him, yanked off his silver wristlet on his right hand, and threw it to the ground before smashing it beneath her foot. To her dismay, there was no purple butterfly that flew out of the destroyed bracelet. "It's in the left one, Chat!" she yelled to her partner, who was standing right next to her and wincing at her loud voice again.

Before she could blink twice, the Alibi Obliterator shot another beam of blue light at Chat Noir, only Ladybug jumped in front of him and took the hit. "I've already been hit, so it doesn't affect me!" she shouted at the black-clad superhero.

He nodded back at her and raised his right hand in the air as he called out, "Cataclysm!" His clawed hand then emitted black bubbles and he curled his right, gloved hand into a fist before charging at the Alibi Obliterator. He quickly touched the silver wristlet on the akumatized boy's left arm and it crumbled to bits. "Ali-bye-bye," Chat smirked as the akuma flew out of the silver shards of the bracelet.

"No!" the Alibi Obliterator cried out in defeat.

Chat Noir put his hands on his hips and smiled confidently at his work before looking to Ladybug. She smirked back at him as she pulled out her yo-yo and ran her finger down the center, opening the top cover and revealing a bright, white light. She proceeded to twirl it around herself and spin it in circles before shouting again.

"Time to de-evilize!" she vocalized, much louder than usual thanks to her red and black-spotted earplugs. She flung her yo-yo at the akuma that was trying to flap away and encased it in the ladybug print weapon. Once she caught the yo-yo in her hand, she yelled, "Gotcha!" As she opened the yo-yo, a pure, white butterfly flew out and danced in the air before disappearing out the doors of the gym. "Bye-bye, little butterfly!"

Ladybug took out the two earplugs and clutched them in her hand tightly, about to throw them up above her head and recite her miraculous spell. However, before she could say the magic words, a small voice interrupted her.

"M'Lady, wait," Chat Noir squeaked, running up to Ladybug. "Before you do your whole 'Miraculous Ladybug' thing and undo the truth beam's effect, can I…ask you something?" His voice sounded unsure and somewhat nervous as he shyly forced out the question.

"If it's about my identity, you know I would have no choice but to tell you, and we can't know-"

"I know!" Chat quickly blurted out, then looked away, embarrassed by his outburst, before continuing, "It's not about that, I _purr_ -omise…cat's honor." He raised his left hand up in air and placed his right over his heart as he gave her a cheeky grin.

"Okay…" Ladybug agreed, sounding skeptical about where this was headed. He wasn't shot with a truth beam, so she couldn't possibly know if he was, indeed, telling the truth or not. But he was her trusted partner in crime-fighting, and would never lie to her…would he?

"I just have to know," he began, looking sheepishly at the floor before picking his head up to look directly into Ladybug's bluebell eyes, "A-And I know this way, you'll a-answer me honestly…so…d-do you…like me?"

The blue-haired girl stood there with her arms folded and confusion glazed over her eyes before letting out a soft chuckle, "Yes, of course I like you. You're my partner, my friend, my-"

"No," he interjected, "I -I mean, d-do you _like_ me, like me?"

"Oh," Ladybug was surprised at the words that poured out of Chat Noir's mouth as she processed what he asked her, "No. There's someone else." She bowed her head in shame as she finished her answer, one which she had no control over how bitterly she spoke it. She couldn't bring herself to look up and see her partner's face, where tears had lined the rims of his viridescent eyes. "I should give you the ring back, I don't deserve it."

Chat wiped away his salty tears that pricked his eyes before his lady could notice and flashed a weak smile at the girl in red and black spots. "Keep it," he said in a hushed voice, "So that you know you will always have my heart."

Ladybug fought back the tears welling up in her blue eyes after hearing her silly kitty's words. She had never had a boy say something about her like that, especially not the love of her life, Adrien. Even though Chat admitted his love for, she couldn't return his feelings; her heart belonged to the blond model with gorgeous, green eyes. She lifted her head to look up at her partner and gave him a weary smile before nodding.

Out of nowhere, Chat Noir embraced her in a tight hug, provoking a gasp from Ladybug's lips and a moment of hesitation before she wrapped her arms around him as well. They sighed into each other and Chat buried his face in her shoulder until he pulled out of the hold. The blond cat-boy winked at his lady and stepped back, giving her enough room to call upon her magical, clean-up spell.

"Miraculous Ladybug!" she hollered as she tossed the earplugs in the air.

 **Whew! Those chapters were a doozy to write! Action scenes aren't exactly my forte, so I struggled a little with the imagery there. I used a few terms for kicks and punches that I know of from studying martial arts to hopefully make it more clear about what was going on. Shout-out to my cousin for helping me brainstorm the akumatized victim, Alibi Obliterator, and his powers/name (thanks, cuz!)**

 **I am writing another fanfic for Miraculous, called "The Next Generation" (shameless self-promotion: check it out), so updates might not be as frequent. As always, please leave in the reviews what you like, what you dislike, what you want to see happen, and or any predictions you have for future chapters...I love to read what you lovelies think! Until next chapter, toodles! :D**


	13. Chapter 13: Wait, What?

Hello beautiful people! I've been trying to find time to write between school and well...school. I don't think I mentioned before that this takes place their first week of school and Miraculous Day is a Thursday, but the date is the same as exactly one year ago when they first became superheroes...does that make sense? Anyway, enjoy! :3

 **Chapter 13**

After the swarm of ladybug's returned everything to normal and undoing all damage done from the fight, a faint beeping noise echoed throughout the gym. Ladybug touched her gloved fingertips to her earring as she looked at Chat Noir's ring.

"Well, look at that, we're about to change back," Chat jittered, "Um…see ya!" Just like that, he turned and bolted out of the gym doors.

"Wait, Chat!" Ladybug called out, "We're already wearing..." but it was too late as he was already out of sight after he left the doors swinging from his quick exit, "...masks." Ladybug turned her attention over to the boy who was on the floor, confused, where the Alibi Obliterator once sat.

"Wha…what happened?" Eric asked as if a haze of bewilderment clouded over his eyes. He brought himself to his feet as Ladybug gave him a reassuring smile and explained that he was akumatized, but no real damage was done—except for her breaking Chat Noir's heart, but she didn't mention that. In her experience, the akumatized victims tend to react poorly when they find out they did something that hurt someone, or anything along those lines. He apologized for his actions under Hawkmoth's influence and darted out the door to get the groups of people who were hiding outside the gym.

She dropped her transformation, the ladybug creature popping out of her earrings, and floating before her with a weak smile.

"That was a close one," the red kwami squeaked in her dainty voice. "Alibi Obliterator almost got you to reveal your identity!"

Marinette brought her gloved hand to her face and breathed a sigh of relief when she felt her homemade mask still rested there. The last thing she needed was for her to see her as Marinette and have everyone know who she really was. She brushed off the ruffles of her ladybug print dress and combed her fingers through the loose curls of her hair.

"Yeah, but now everyone knows how old I am…and that I go here," the bluenette whined, "How's that for starting off the new school year? Ugh, and there's still tomorrow! Why couldn't we have Friday off?" She crossed her arms in front of her chest as her eyes lingered to the stage where she dropped the microphone and rose. _The rose. The ring._

"Are you okay, girly?" Tikki piped up, snatching Marinette back from her wandering thoughts.

"To be honest, no," she sighed and slouched as she crept towards the raised platform of the stage, reaching for the red rose with the black lace ribbon. She gently picked it up, like it was an article of delicate clothing, and twirled the stem between her thumb and fingers. "I think I really hurt Chat, I mean, did you see the look on his face when I said 'no' to him? That's probably why he booked it after his ring started flashing."

Marinette didn't have time to mope about how her brutally honest words sliced through her partner like a blade because people started filing back into the dance. Tikki zipped back into the the red pouch that hung at the blue-haired girl's hip. Of course, the universe sent in Chloe Bourgeois first to lead the crowd of Parisians.

"Ladybug!" she cheered gleefully, "I knew you'd save me!"

She lunged to embrace Marinette in a hug, her ponytail swishing from side to side, however the blue-haired girl dodged out of the way. Marinette didn't feel like putting up with Chloe, mostly because she was the reason behind Eric being akumatized...not to mention, she was the reason she revealed secret details about herself to the public and crushed Chat Noir's crush on her.

The heroine scanned Chloe up and down and was greatly unamused when she saw the blonde wearing a Ladybug-themed dress. It was rather short, maybe too short, as it barely came down to her thighs, and it seemed like it was sagging down in the front, like it didn't quite fit her. It was strapless and tight fitting, bright red with black, sequin-lined spots all throughout.

Being a designer, the tacky dress made Marinette internally cringe…but she couldn't do such a thing on the outside. She was Ladybug right now, not Marinette, and she couldn't go off picking a fight with her arch enemy—not counting Hawkmoth. Being Ladybug meant she couldn't be rude and push the bottle-blonde away when she leaned in to take a selfie with her, like she was doing right now.

"Smile, Ladybug!" she called out, a wide grin stretched across her face, as she extended her phone in the air and snapped several pictures of the two of them. It was incredibly difficult for Marinette not to strangle Chloe right then and there.

 _It would be so easy_ , she thought, _Everyone would thank me_.

Instead, she merely smiled unenthusiastically and let the girl in the tacky dress and scarlet platform heels take the photos—the quicker she took them, the sooner Marinette could get away from the growing mass of people in the gym.

"If you'll excuse me, I have to get back up there," the bluenette pointed up to the stage behind her and slipped away from the screaming fans so she could assume her spot on in front of the DJ equipment.

It was then Marinette remembered someone. The person she came to the dance with. She remembered that he wasn't with her when the attack happened. Come to think of it, she didn't recall seeing him in the audience during the open questions. Marinette's bluebell eyes frantically looked over the crowd for Adrien, wondering if he was hurt, or missing, or worse.

 _Maybe he just went to find help for his nose? It_ did _look pretty bad…he probably hates me for messing up his face and just left!_ she babbled in her head to herself.

"You okay, M'Lady? You look _purr_ -ty upset," a voice as smooth as butter chirped from behind her.

The bluenette nearly dropped the rose as the the voice spooked her and uttered the horrible pun. However, the mass of people before her found it adorable and hilarious the way the blond had snuck up on her. Before Marinette even had the chance to reprimand her partner for scaring her, Mayor Bourgeois' voice silenced the giggles coming from the crowd of Parisians in the gym.

"Well, after that fiasco, I'd like to turn the mic over to Miss Marinette Dupain-Cheng, our eleventh grade class representative. She helped reorganize this glorious dance after the change in forecast."

 _Crap._

"Marinette?" the mayor questioned, searching the crowd of people as they looked to their lefts and rights for the class representative. Leave it to Marinette to forget she needed to say a few words about the two superheroes at the event. In her defense, she was told last-minute on the first day of school, which only gave her a four days' notice.

She told Tikki she wasn't cut out for being student representative _and_ Ladybug for the second year in a row—it was too hard to balance both leadership roles, especially in situations like this. However, she wasn't panicking nearly as much as Adrien was.

 _No, no, no, no, no!_ he internally screamed, _I forgot about Marinette! Alya is going to kill me! I never found her, I didn't even see her! Oh God, what if she's hurt, or missing, or worse?_

"A-Actually," Marinette blurted out, "I, um, saw Marinette during the fight…she said she, um, had an emergency to take care of…yeah, that's it! So she told me what to say—on her behalf, of course." Mayor Bourgeois stared wide-eyed at her but passed the microphone over to the blue-haired heroine anyway.

The blond's worry dissipated, knowing Marinette was safe and out of harm's way. He trusted his lady, and figured Marinette hadn't even been here when the fight broke out between Hawkmoth's victim and the duo of heroes.

"Hello, Paris!" Marinette confidently shouted into the microphone, triggering a loud cheer from the men, women, boys, and girls on the dance floor. "Marinette would like to apologize for not being able to be here in person, but she wanted to say a few things. First, you guys are _amazing_! You put your trust in Chat Noir and me every day to keep you safe, especially from Hawkmoth. You stay here, in Paris, even though there is a constant risk of akuma attacks. But, we can minimize the threat of outbreaks by limiting our negative emotions. Don't let hate, envy, fear, or any other negative feeling control you…this way, Hawkmoth can't use that against you. Instead of you thanking us, we want to thank you for being amazing citizens, especially this past year."

The crowd erupted into more hollers and cheers as Marinette tossed the microphone to an unsuspecting Adrien, whose quick reflexes allowed him to barely catch it. He stumbled with the mic a short while before flashing his lady a puzzled look.

After she mouthed 'say something', he cleared his throat and began to speak, "Um, thanks? You guys rock?" He didn't know what to say, and the uncertainty in his voice only made that more clear to the blue-haired girl, but the large group of Parisians found it amazing as they cheered his and Ladybug's names.

Mayor Bourgeois plucked the microphone from Adrien's bare hands, too shocked to register what happened. He wasn't prepared for Ladybug to make the announcement Marinette was supposed to and he most definitely was not prepared for when she handed him the mic. He usually was so good at public speaking; it was easy for him to make a well-rounded speech out of nothing. So why was it so difficult for him as Chat Noir just then? He figured it was because Ladybug, who had just denied his feelings, was right next to him and expecting some grandiose speech from him.

"Now, what you've all been waiting for," the mayor began, "Ladybug and Chat Noir will now take to the dance floor for the first slow dance of the night!" A spotlight shone down to the middle of the gym floor, and the crowd of people split down the center and around the outline of the light to create a path for the pair to walk down.

"Wait, _what_?" the two screeched.

 **Please leave a review about what you like, what you don't like, what you want to see happen, and or any predictions you have for future chapters. I'm still working on "The Next Generation", I haven't abandoned that story, but I am still trying to find time to write that one as well. Until next chapter, toodles! :D**


	14. Chapter 14: Time of My Life

Hello beautiful people! Sorry, this is another short chapter...but I felt kinda bad about the cliffhanger. Personally, I hate cliffhangers, so I couldn't leave you guys hanging for long. Enjoy! :3 (BTW, I figured out how to use the horizontal line :P)

* * *

 **Chapter 14**

* * *

"Wait, _what_?!" the two screeched. Marinette's bluebell eyes grew as wide as saucers and her posture stiffened. She couldn't bring herself to to turn and look at her partner, who was probably just as baffled by the mayor's announcement. Only, he wasn't.

Adrien's emerald orbs lit up like Christmas lights as a cheeky smile spread across his face. It didn't matter that his lady didn't return his feelings; maybe when he danced with her, _he'd_ be the one to use _his_ charm that would make her change her mind about him. At least, he hoped that was how it would go.

"Um…" Marinette uttered softly as she looked around the gym, at the large spotlight on the dance floor, and the path the audience made leading to it.

"Might as well give the people what they want," the blond smirked, offering his hand to his partner. She stared at his left hand, outstretched to her, and hesitantly took it with her right. They exchanged a look of embarrassment and smiled weakly at each other before making their descent down the steps leading to the gym's floors.

Marinette set the rose down on the edge of the stage, placing it next to her red pouch. She didn't like the idea of leaving Tikki alone out in the open because she could get kwami-napped, but she figured the red bug-like creature wouldn't care for being spun around in circles and such. She could toss her cookies, quite literally, in the small shoulder purse.

The pair slowly walked down the parting that the crowd had made, taking each step carefully as if one wrong move would detonate a bomb. They kept their eyes straight ahead, ignoring the flashes of cameras and the news microphones being shoved in their faces. Marinette couldn't help but feel uneasy, knowing that her slow dance was supposed to be with her _date_ , Adrien, and not her silly kitty.

After what seemed like an eternity to them, their 'walk of shame' came to an end as they reached the large spotlight's circle. Parisians were lined up along the edge of where the light touched the floor, creating an open space for the superheroes to dance. Adrien peeled his hand away from hers and bowed overdramatically before glancing up at her with his sparkling green eyes that were glossed over with warmth and kindness.

"May I have this dance, M'Lady?" he spoke just above a whisper and a small smile tugged at his lips. She cocked an eyebrow at him before giggling to herself.

"I don't have a choice, do I, Chat Noir?" she joked as he straightened up and gently took hold of her right, gloved hand with his bare left and pulled her closer. She shakily placed her left hand on his shoulder and gripped it loosely, taking note of how his shoulder felt firm and muscular. He carefully rested his right hand on her waist, barely applying any pressure for fear he might anger his lady.

Marinette looked up into his summer-green eyes and smiled softly as the music started to play. It couldn't have been Nino because this music was all too gentle and soothing…so who had gotten control of the DJ equipment? The bluenette stole a glance at the stage to see a short man in a red Hawaiian shirt. Of course, Master Fu would be the one to play a record from his gramophone he kept in his studio. She wondered if he took the miraculous out of the secret compartment, but knowing Master Fu, he probably didn't for safe-keeping.

"Something wrong, LB?" Adrien's voice brought Marinette out of her thoughts and back to the blond in the black mask and cat ears.

"No, not at all," she smiled, "But I should warn your toes that I'm not a good dancer." If she were actually Ladybug, Marinette would probably have a lot more grace than what she had when she was her civilian self.

"You can step on my toes as much as you'd like, M'Ladybug," there was a touch of sincerity in Adrien's playful remark, but Marinette just brushed it off as more of his flirting. Although, she began to wonder if he was actually serious about all of those flirty remarks now that she knew how he truly felt about her…maybe he wasn't just a player who flirted with every girl in Paris? "Maybe we should actually dance now?"

Marinette realized that they hadn't moved after the music started, "Oh, right, sorry."

They took a step to the side, unfortunately both went to their own left. When the duo tried again, they both went to their own right. Marinette was starting to regret not taking a ballroom dance class with her mother that one time a few years back when asked.

"Why don't you take the lead, since you obviously know what you're doing," the blue-haired girl suggested.

Luckily for the both of them, Adrien was familiar with dancing like this because of the parties he had to attend for his father. Of course, because he was Chat Noir, he didn't have to dance with one of Gabriel Agreste's business associate's daughters…he got to dance with his lady.

He smiled and nodded as he started to guide Marinette around the dance floor and, aside from the classic music playing, the room went silent as people watched in awe. Alya had started filming the pair glide around, stepping and swaying in perfect harmony together.

"Mind if I twirl you, Bugaboo?" the model implored, smiling brightly at the girl in his arms.

"Don't call me that," the bluenette deadpanned with a glint of playfulness in her eyes.

She stared at him with a skeptical kind of look before rolling her bluebell orbs and nodding slightly. He released his hold on her waist, and she let go of his shoulder as she swooped away from him. Their joined arms were fully extended in between them as they stood next to each other, only their laced fingers were keeping them together.

They paused a moment for pictures before Marinette spun around and around, inching closer to Adrien and closing the gap between them as she twirled back into his hold. The ruffles on her flared out as she spun like a top and her loose blue curls bounced and swayed from the momentum. Once she grew dizzy of the twirling, Marinette clutched onto her partner's hand and shoulder for dear life as her head continued spinning. He held her up by the waist, careful not to be disrespectful of how tightly he held onto her and gripped her hand gently in return.

"That was more graceful than I expected," Marinette exclaimed, still feeling woozy.

"Maybe I should have told you to _spot_ first," he quipped, a satisfied grin plastered on his face and a groan of annoyance uttered out of Marinette.

"I don't know what that means, but I take it you were making a pun about me," she sighed, fighting back the want to smack him on the back of his head. Jokingly, of course, but hopefully it would knock some sense into him…enough sense to _not_ make any more of those awful puns.

"Heh, M'Lady, when you _spot_ , you pick something to focus on each time you spin around so you don't get dizzy…kinda like-"

"Don't say it," she warned.

"-you."

She muttered something about how cats didn't know when to stop and that he was putting himself at risk for facing her 'Ladybug fury'. The two continued to slow dance together, like they had before, with the occasional cheer or holler from someone in the mass of people at the dance. Eventually, the bluenette felt better and all feelings of dizziness fled her system. Marinette thought it would be simple, gentle steps from here on out—boy, was she wrong.

"Ladybug," Adrien tittered, "Have you ever seen 'Dirty Dancing'?"

"Yeah…" she replied, "Why?"

"You know the 'Lift' scene?"

"No," she quickly retorted, "We're not doing that." Adrien pouted, jutted out his lower lip, and started to…whimper? "Baby doll eyes aren't helping your case, Chat Noir."

"Please!" he begged, "They'll go nuts for it!" Adrien nodded to the crowd of people surrounding them, all eager with anticipation of what would happen next.

"Fine. But remember, this isn't...romantic or anything," Marinette separated from Adrien and irritably made her way to the other side of where the spotlight shone while the blond stepped back a few paces, making himself off-centered with the light. The blue-haired girl started off at a slow speed, then broke out into a sprint and leapt up into the air just in time for her partner to catch her.

Marinette felt like she was flying, kind of like how she felt when she used her yo-yo to swing over-top buildings lining the streets of Paris. For a brief moment, Marinette felt elegant and weightless as Adrien held her above his head by her waist; she had her arms out to her sides like she was an airplane and her skirt billowed underneath her. She felt so safe and secure and powerful, being hoisted above the crowd by the blond's strong arms…until she started to teeter forward.

Because Adrien's footing was off, Marinette fell forward as the model fell back, causing the two to tumble to the ground. The crowd of Parisians broke out into murmurs of "Ooh, that has to hurt," and "Oh no! Oh my gosh!" mixed in with gasps of shock and a handful of giggles. Marinette pushed herself up onto her elbows, and registered the fact that she was on top of her partner and not the other way around…for once…

"Ow," she muttered as she brushed her bangs out of her eyes to see the masked boy underneath her smiling like a fool.

"I see you've fallen for me, M'Lady," Adrien playfully smirked as he winked, a crooked grin appearing at his mouth.

* * *

 **Wow, I'm loving this horizontal line action...I can't believe I went this long without knowing how the heck to do it! I love 'Dirty Dancing', so obviously I'm gonna make a reference to an iconic scene in it. Do you have any movies/shows/books you'd like me to make a reference to in the future? Let me know!**

 **Let me know in the reviews what you like, what you dislike, what you want to see happen, and or any predictions you have for future chapters. I'm open to suggestions! I promise the next chapter will be longer with just as much cringe and fluff. So, until next chapter, toodles! :D**


	15. Do What You Love

Hello beautiful people! Okay, so this isn't an actual chapter...APRIL FOOLS ( _sort of_...I mean, I know I'm a day late and a dollar short.) I think you should take the time to read this little message I have for you! :3

* * *

Writing has been a passion of mine for a long time. I love to write my own stories and I have written two original books so far with a third in the making. Of course, I haven't published/posted them... _yet_. Fanfictions are the first thing I have _ever_ posted for people to read other than my family and close friends.

In the past, my English teachers have always been greatly impressed with my writing, whether it be for a literature essay, creative writing piece, or a research report. They told me I have a future in writing and that my words can affect the world for the better; that my words will send out good messages for others in the world to read. Keep in mind, this was coming from...let's see...at least six English teachers and several teachers in other subjects over the (few, because I'm only in high school) years.

However, this year, my English teacher told me she _hated_ my writing and she has been biased when grading my work. She said verbatim that my writing is immature and that I won't pass my AP English course because of it. She told me directly that my writing style is like that of an elementary school student. This is the first time in all of my (few, again, because I am young and in high school) years that I met someone who disliked my writing to such a high degree. And so, this year I have received nothing above a 'C' grade (I don't want to sound like I'm bragging, but I have never gotten less than a 90% _in my life_ before this year) for a writing piece/essay/research report in my current English teacher's class.

I believe I am a decent writer and I love the fact that I can express my thoughts and feelings through the words I put on paper (or in this case, online.) Even though my teacher's words hurt me, I let her negative opinion roll off my shoulders. Why should I let one sour judgement mess with my mind and lead me to believe her words about me and my writing are true?

My main message here is: **Do not let others' hurtful thoughts and opinions decide what you do and how you do it.**

If it is your passion, maybe it's writing, then do _not_ let people's spiteful comments affect how you accomplish said passion. Just because my teacher believes I'm not good enough and that I lack the skill and talent to write, doesn't mean I let her define me.

 _I_ love to write, so I write. _I_ believe I am a good writer, so I write. _I_ enjoy creating new ideas for stories to tell, so I write. My writing style doesn't have to be loved by all, but since _I_ love it, I write.

I hope all of you beautiful people receive, understand, and apply my message to your lives.

* * *

 **Okay, so because this wasn't a chapter in my story (sorry to disappoint) because of my late April Fools prank, I think you know what comes next...double chapter! However, it may come a bit later than normal, you can't rush creativity. Plus, there's school and...well...school. I hope you all had a great April Fools Day yesterday! If you pulled any pranks, let me know in the reviews-** ** _one of your pranks might end up in this fanfic ;)_** **That's all for now, PLEASE hear my message to you guys, I feel like it would help a lot of aspiring writers like myself and those of you with other passions in life. Until next chapter, toodles! :D**


	16. Chapters 15 & 16: Still Technically Gay

_I'M BACK FROM THE DEAD! :D_

Hello beautiful people! I just want to start off by saying thank you so much for your kind words in the reviews about my last post. But _please_ , don't hate on my teacher! Yes, she's pretty cold-hearted (okay, very cold-hearted), but I don't want you guys to stoop to her level by hating on her—trust me, I already know first-hand how difficult she is ;)

It's been _how long_ since I last updated? Over three weeks? I have a good reason(s): One, I was in Disney World for Spring Break, and Disney=no time for writing fanfics...maybe some of you were there too? Also, I've had loads of homework—it's funny how 70% of my homework is for my English teacher—and that comes before this story, sadly. _And_ , this is a double chapter, so it took extra long...

But it is here and ready now, so without any more delay, I give you Chapters 15 & 16! :3

* * *

 **Chapter 15**

* * *

"I see you've fallen for me, M'Lady," Adrien playfully smirked, a crooked grin appearing at his mouth.

"Ugh," Marinette groaned as she rolled her eyes at the blond cat-boy underneath her.

She swung her leg over Adrien and pushed up so she was on her gloved hands and bare knees next to him. He sat up groggily and rubbed the back of his head before jumping to his feet and brushing off his black blazer and dress pants.

The model offered his hand to the bluenette, but she picked herself up on her own, scoffing at the model's gesture; she didn't look closely enough to see the silver band on his ring finger when he extended his right hand out to her. Marinette dusted herself off and combed her slim fingers through her midnight locks before glaring at her partner.

"Before you say 'I told you so'-" the blond began, but was interrupted by Marinette.

" _I told you so_ ," she pouted and folded her arms in front of her as she shifted her weight to the side. "For a black cat, you're lucky we weren't seriously hurt. But, something tells me I'm going to find a bruise somewhere on me tomorrow." She rubbed her left shoulder tenderly and winced slightly at the touch.

"Sorry, M'Lady," he pleaded, "Can you find it in your lovebug heart to forgive me?"

She stared at him with a deadpanned expression swiped across her face as she cocked an eyebrow at him. Marinette absolutely _hated_ those nicknames he gave her and the way he would always flirt with her like he did to every girl—well, she _assumed_ he did to every girl. Now, though, she was having second thoughts after the whole truth beam fiasco. If those remarks came from someone like…Adrien, for example…the bluenette most likely wouldn't mind. However, since they came from her flirt of partner, she minded very much so.

Marinette tapped her finger to her chin and gazed off into the distance, acting like she was deep in thought. "Very well, you are forgiven."

"Ah, thank you, LB," Adrien smirked as a loving grin played at the corners of his mouth.

Marinette nodded at the blond before turning to the crowd, which had gathered tightly around them. She scouted ahead for her friends, Alya and Nino, and figured they would be there to record and take pictures of what just went down. However, neither of the darker-skinned teenagers were anywhere to be seen. Then a thought trickled into Marinette's head and seeped through to the front of her mind.

 _What if they went looking for me and went to my locker and found my rose and my shoes then figured out I'm Ladybug?!_ the blue-haired girl panicked, _I gotta change back ASAP! Chat Noir will understand, right?_

Unbeknownst to Marinette's thoughts, Adrien was coming up with his own mental freak-out for why he couldn't spot Nino or Alya in the crowd either.

 _What if they went looking for me and went to my locker and found my bag with Plagg in there pigging down camembert and figured out I'm Chat Noir?!_ the blond model got into a tizzy, _I gotta change back ASAP! Ladybug will understand, right?_

"Uh…I-I think this has been enough excitement for one night," the bluenette jittered to her partner, "Maybe we should…" As if reading her thoughts, Adrien answered and agreed to her suggestion.

"Yeah," the model whispered to her before he turned to announce to the mass of people in the gym, "Thank you everyone, especially Mayor Bourgeois and Mr. Damocles, for the party in our celebration. We would love to stay longer, but I find it's time Ladybug and I take our leave."

Marinette was shocked by how formal the blond sounded when declaring their departure. She was mostly surprised that he didn't throw in a pun or two as he said so, making him sound even more pristine when speaking. This was a side to her partner she couldn't even fathom being a possibility; yet there he was, acting like a professional, well-educated, rich boy. But that wouldn't make sense because he told Marinette he was homeless…so…come to think of it, how _did_ he get his claws on such a fancy suit? He wouldn't steal it, would he? No—Marinette knew her kitty would never do such a thing.

The blue-haired girl felt her shoulder being nudged and contorted her face at the painful touch before zoning back into the conversation. "Huh? Oh, yeah, we have to get going. But I'm sure we'll see you all again. Thank you again so much for honoring us," Marinette spewed out, covering for her lack of attention.

With that, the duo made their way through the crowd of people with the occasional microphone, camera, or cellphone shoved in their faces. What annoyed Marinette was that Adrien would often pause to answer a quick question and pose for photos, most of which were selfies with fangirls.

 _Yup, definitely a flirty player and ladies' man_ , the blue-haired girl rolled her eyes at the thought.

While the masked, blond model in cat ears took his sweet time, Marinette sped ahead, made a pit-stop to retrieve her bag and red rose, then broke out of the gym's doors about five minutes before her partner. She sharply turned the corner and booked it to the lockers, careful not to fall off her heels and on her face like Tikki warned her earlier.

The bluenette fished her white flats and pink rose out of her locker and darted into the girls' bathroom, making sure to lock the door behind her. Once the coast was clear, Marinette popped open her inverted purse and allowed the petite, red kwami to levitate out.

"Why were you so quick to get out of there?" Tikki innocently inquired as she floated before Marinette's eyes.

The blue-haired girl speedily peeled off her homemade ladybug-print mask and tossed it on the ledge of the sink along with her scarlet gloves. She let out an irritated groan before answering the bug-like creature, "I didn't see Alya or Nino and figured they must be looking for me and I didn't want them to see my things in my locker, put two and two together, then figure out I'm Ladybug."

Marinette stepped out of her black heels and breathed of sigh of relief when her narrow feet pressed flat against the cool tile of the bathroom floor. Her relief faded as soon as she had to cram her feet into her white flats—her feet would be free from the chains her shoes had her entangled in once she got home, at least. She tugged off her dress and turned it right-side-out, transforming it into the pale pink dress Marinette wore earlier. The Parisian teen stared at herself in the mirror and frowned before struggling to put her hair back up in a bun.

Several frustrated grunts poured from Marinette's mouth had signaled Tikki to aid her in taming the tangled mess of blue curls. The kwami danced in the air around the girl's head as she skillfully arranged her hair until it was gathered in a bun almost identical to before.

"Thanks," Marinette mumbled and released a sigh of relief, "What am I gonna tell Alya and Nino…when I meet up with them, that is?" The bluenette shakily met her bluebell eyes with the ladybug creature floating next to her and a frantic look scrunched up her features.

"Just say you had a little emergency," Tikki squeaked, "Maybe a _feminine_ emergency?"

The kwami winked at the blue-haired girl and giggled, evoking a blush to to tint Marinette's pale cheeks. She couldn't say she had _that_ kind of emergency…she used that excuse enough around Alya for why she was late, couldn't attend something Ladybug-themed, or had to ditch her to fight off an akumatized victim. Marinette had tried to say that was the reason she couldn't go to the dance before using her parents' bakery as an excuse, but Alya did the math and said that was impossible—unless, of course, her 'feminine emergency' had lasted for the past three weeks.

"Maybe that'll work with Adrien or Nino because they're guys and wouldn't dare question it, but Alya won't buy it," she contemplated out loud as she gathered her accessories and shoved them in her now-right-side-out purse.

"Well, you'll think of something before you find them," Tikki suggested with a small smile.

Marinette nodded and scooped up the red rose and black heels in one hand, and her pink, wilting rose in the other before looking herself over once more in the mirror. Satisfied, the blue-haired teenager popped open her pink pouch for the kwami to hide and closed it up again as she made her way for the door.

* * *

Adrien finally made it out of the crowded gym after what seemed like eons, taking note of the fact that his lady was nowhere in sight. He figured she went off without him long before he had pushed past the mass of people and that she had already left the school. Disappointed he didn't get a proper farewell, the blond made a mad-dash for the boys' bathroom, stopping at his locker to pick up his bag and glutton of a kwami.

The model pushed through the door and slammed it shut behind him, locking it to be sure no one would walk in on him changing. Of course, he wouldn't be bothered by someone seeing him change his outfit, being a model and all; he was used to it. Although, the blond concluded it was best to not have anyone walk in on him as Chat Noir and taking his mask off…Ladybug would surely be upset if she found out that he was so careless about his identity.

"Plagg! Help!" Adrien whined as he flailed around to shake off the black jacket.

"Kid, I don't get paid enough to assist you and your teenage boy drama," the black cat kwami groaned as he zipped out of Adrien's shoulder bag.

Adrien squinted at the black creature before answering him, "I don't pay you—you're my _kwami_. I give you more than enough cheese, you pig, and here you are complaining about payment?"

Plagg yawned and stretched as he lazily floated over to the teenage model who was shoving his black suit jacket in his bag. All the while, Adrien was muttering to himself everything he had to do to change back into…well…Adrien.

"Tie, tie, tie," he mumbled, "I need my tie, where's my tie?"

"Around your neck, dummy," Plagg deadpanned, gesturing to the bright green tie looped around his white, dress shirt's collar, "You're giving blonds a bad name, you know. I think the whole 'dumb blond' thing was based around you…and not just for this reason," he muttered the last part under his breath, rolling his cat eyes at his chosen's obliviousness.

"No, my pink one…that matched Marinette's dress."

"I think I shoved it in one of your bag's pockets to make more room for me and my gooiness," the kwami smirked devilishly. Adrien rolled his eyes at his cat creature's doing, fishing in one of his bag's inside pockets and he pulled out the silky, baby pink necktie.

"Just help me get changed, please," the blond retorted dryly.

* * *

Marinette darted out of the girl's bathroom, winding through the rows of lockers until she reached hers. Her fingers fumbled to enter the code on her lock and, after several rushed and failed attempts, the bluenette pried open the metal door and tossed in her heels and red rose.

After slamming the locker shut, she grasped her pink rose firmly between her fingers as she sharply turned the corner. What the blue-haired girl was not expecting, was for Adrien to be rounding that row of lockers at the same time.

"M-Marinette?" the blond jittered as his vibrant, emerald eyes grew wide, "You're okay!"

He stared agape at the bluenette and blinked dumbly at her, relieved in knowing she was safe from that akuma attack. He, himself, had just dropped his things off at his locker along with Plagg, who had helped tame his wild, Chat Noir hair.

"Y-Yes," she squeaked and, at the same time, looked to her feet in order to avoid his mesmerizing, green gaze. Marinette dared to meet her sky-colored orbs to his and instantaneously lost her train of thought. "Uh…oh! Yeah, um…you're okay, too? I mean, apart from your nose, you _look_ okay, but when do you not look okay? Heck, you look better than okay all the time and…and…I'm rambling again."

"It's okay," Adrien chuckled, shifting his weight to one side and crossing his arms casually, "I lost you in the gym and got worried because I didn't know what happened to you…I'm glad to see _you_ are okay, Marinette." The warm glow emitted from his face brightened as he smiled genuinely at her.

"Same here…but, um, wh-where were you?" the bluenette braved to ask.

Adrien's eyes grew wide and his posture stiffened under the innocent stare Marinette gave him. He opened his mouth to respond, but nothing came out for he hadn't thought of an excuse for his disappearance.

"I was in the bathroom, guess I had a bad cupcake?" the blond model nervously spewed out. _Why did I say that of all things? One, Marinette knows better than anyone that her family's cupcakes are always great—like their croissants—and two, that is probably the most disgusting excuse…especially to say to a girl, more specifically, my date!_ "…anyway…what about you?"

Marinette's face froze in shock and her train of thought was derailed by the love of her life's inquiry. "I-I-I was in the bathroom, too! Um… _feminine emergency_ ," the young designer mumbled. _Why did I use Tikki's suggestion? At least he won't question it or say anything of it._

Oh, how wrong she was.

"Got it," Adrien remarked gently, kindness embedded in his beautifully green eyes, "Are you okay? Do you need pain relievers? Maybe a heating pad? I hear those help… We can go get some chocolate from the refreshments table, if you want." The blond stared off into space, tapping a finger to his chin as he continued to recall methods of helping with _feminine emergencies_ from when his mom had told him what to do and what _not_ to do when a lady would say _feminine emergency_.

"I'm f-fine…really…" Marinette replied, fishing Adrien out of his thoughts as she peered at him.

He actually asked if she was okay and offered her ways to ease her fake _emergency_. Nino had never done that; Nino would plug his ears or put on his headphones and practically dash away. She might as well have added this moment to the unending list of reasons why she loved that boy.

"If you're sure-"

Adrien was interrupted by a resounding _THUD!_ that caught the attention of the two Parisian teens. Simultaneously, the pair thought to themselves, _Not another akumatized victim._

"What was that?" Adrien spoke up, redirecting Marinette's attention to his worried face.

He detested the idea that had to think of a way to get away from his date… _again_. The blond was momentarily stunned to see an equally worried expression plastered on Marinette's face when she turned to look at him.

There was no way she was leaving Adrien again to transform into Ladybug and investigate, so her next words were words she almost didn't think she'd say. "Why don't we go see what it was? I mean, it's probably just the wind, but better safe than sorry, right?" she nervously chuckled.

 _Oh, 'just the wind' my Aunt Fanny_ , Adrien thought, _But I don't wanna separate from her just to transform…_ "Okay, sure."

The two crossed half of the long stretch of a hallway, but heard another _THUD!_ come from behind them this time. Marinette whipped her head around and her eyes locked onto the art closet. Without hesitation, the bluenette inched closer to the door of the very same art closet that she and Adrien were trapped in about two hours ago. She looked to the blond only to have him shrug at her in confusion.

"Maybe someone else got locked in?" she suggested, reaching for the knob.

Adrien shuffled over to Marinette and stood to her left, a few paces back. Ever so slowly, Marinette jiggled the doorknob encased in her dainty fingers and pulled the door open with a soft _creak_.

The two high schoolers were not ready for what came next. They were unprepared for the scene before them. Marinette and Adrien did not expect to come face to face with the image of Alya pinning Nino to wall in the closet in a full-on make out session.

"Alya!" Marinette shrieked, registering the brunette to guiltily turn her head and face her best friend.

Her lipstick was smeared over the lower half of her face—as well as Nino's. The right strap of Alya's lavender dress was messily off her shoulder and Nino's shirt was partly untucked. Nino adjusted his glasses that were hanging lazily off his face and rotated his cap to face forward again. Alya brushed a hand through her scruffed up hair and sighed, putting her hands on her waist and jutting one hip out to the side.

"Can I help you?" the blogger retorted.

Nino took a step back out of embarrassment, blushing furiously, when his foot bumped into a mop and a turned-on-it's-side bucket that laid on the floor. _Those are what made the noises…I hope…ewww_ , Marinette pondered, shivered, and vanquished the disturbing thought.

"Wh-What are you doing!" the blue-haired girl gasped, raising her brows in shock.

"I think you saw…" Alya joked dryly, rolling her eyes and folding her arms.

Marinette went on scolding Alya as Adrien stood unmoved behind the bluenette, his mouth agape and eyes wide. Nino took this time to waltz out of the closet, still fumbling to fix his shirt, when he caught sight of his blond buddy.

"Yo, Mr. Front-Of-The-Cover-Weekly," Nino waved a hand in front of Adrien's face and snapped him out of his shock.

"Dude…" was all the model managed to utter, eyes still wide.

He focused his attention on Marinette, who was still berating Alya for disappearing and worrying her. Alya visibly appeared unamused, except for the fact that she was holding back a smile as Marinette scolded her.

"Wait, Adrien, bro," Nino piped up, making Adrien shift his focus back to the DJ, "What happened to your face? Was it that Alibliterator guy? I don't remember his name…but seriously, dude, that looks gnarly."

Adrien touched his fingertips to his nose and flinched at the temporary pain it brought him. "No, actually it was Marinette," Nino shot him a puzzled, yet equally intrigued, look, "Long story, I'll fill you in later."

"Rough, man," Nino sighed, slinging an arm and hooking it around Adrien's broad shoulders, "It'll add a challenge to modeling, huh? That seriously bugs."

If only they understood the hidden meaning behind Nino's words.

* * *

 **Chapter 16**

* * *

"Let me get this straight," Marinette began.

The four were walking together down the halls, winding through the school as they trekked back to the dance. Marinette and Alya stood side by side and stepped in unison while Nino trotted directly behind Marinette, and Adrien strolled along a few paces behind the group, directly behind Alya.

"Hope you brought your ruler," Alya chortled. The bluenette shot her best friend a look that read 'you're skating on thin ice—don't push it'.

"You and Nino, more so you, decided to leave the gym and be all lovey-dovey in the art closet and miss out on seeing Ladybug and Chat Noir dance?" Marinette said in a somewhat snarky tone.

"I had someone record their slow dance for me so I can post it on the blog later. I can't wait to see what happened! Maybe they kissed!" Alya squealed, causing Marinette to roll her eyes in disgust.

 _If you count Ladybug kissing the floor when Chat Noir dropped her because he had the bright idea to mimic 'Dirty Dancing', then sure. There was a kiss involved_ , the blue-haired girl inwardly groaned at the recent memory.

"Mari, you must tell me what you saw!" Alya melodramatically called out, grabbing Marinette by the shoulders and shaking her playfully. It took all of the blue-haired girl's strength and acting skills not to let out a whimper at the touch of her now-for-sure bruised shoulder.

"We weren't there," Marinette simply replied, thinking nothing of her answer.

"We?" Alya countered, raising an eyebrow and folding her arms. A smirk appeared on her face and a devilish grin danced at her lips.

"Adrien and me," the bluenette continued, "We both weren't there when they danced."

"I see," Alya said plainly, "So you two both just happened to not be there at the same time and then you guys interrupted Nino and me _together_ …do you see what I'm getting at here?"

"What do you mean—WAIT! NO!" Marinette shrilled, but kept her voice quiet enough so she wouldn't catch the boys' attention, "Oh, God, no! We weren't together! I mean, I wish we were, but that's beside the point. We ran into each other leaving the bathroom."

" _Suggestive eyebrow wiggling_ ," the brunette cooed as she wiggled her eyebrows at Marinette, forcing her face in her best friend's personal bubble, a sly grin contorting her mouth.

" _Separate_ bathrooms, Alya," Marinette groaned dryly as she brought a hand to her face and shook her head. She was starting to consider getting new friends…

"I'll take your word for it…" Alya said skeptically, "But, I swear, if you say you were in the bathroom because of your period-"

"N-No! Nope, nothing…woman-related…" Marinette stammered as her eyes grew wide in panic. She knew Alya would sniff out her lie coming from a mile away—this is why she hated lying to people. "I promise," she announced, sealing the deal with a nervous giggle.

Nino was listening to music through his headphones as he strolled down the hallway behind the girls, unaware of their conversation, and his baffled friend shuffling behind him. Adrien was still wrapping his head around what he witnessed back at the art closet.

 _Nino is nowhere near as innocent as I thought…_ he mused. "N-Nino?" Adrien choked on his words, not recognizing his own nervous voice. He didn't know what he was going to say next, but he hated being lost in his shock.

"Wassup, bro?" Nino craned his head around and shuffled to walk directly next to Adrien. He yanked off his headphones and hung them around his neck as he looked to his friend.

"Um…are you and Alya…like, a _thing_ , now?" the blond asked uncertainly, keeping his eyes from trailing over to his DJ friend.

"Adrien, dude, there's always been a 'thing' between us…we literally just made it official, you know? I'm sure you saw back there," the brunet chortled, lightly punching Adrien's shoulder.

The blond model gulped and his eyes grew as wide as saucers when he thought back to the closet—not to mention, he and Marinette were trapped in there a mere two hours ago! For a completely different reason, of course. He and and the young designer weren't like _that_.

"I'd say you and Mari have a little thing between you, too," Nino suggested, barely above a whisper, as he was fully aware of Marinette's crush on Adrien, "Don't think I didn't see the way you were gawking at her today dressed as Chat Noir. _Nino sees all_."

A rosy tint took to Adrien's cheeks and his bodily temperature raised so high, it surpassed the limit on a thermometer. "Y-You don't know wh-what you're saying, N-Nino," he jittered, turning to face away from the brunet boy, "Marinette and me…we're just friends. Actually, I don't even know if we _are_ friends. I'm pretty sure she's scared of me…or doesn't like me still because of the gum thing last year."

Nino tried his darned hardest from bursting into laughter and doubling over in a fit of giggles. However, he failed to hold back the amused grin and soft chuckle that trickled from his mouth. "That-" he laughed, "That's what you think?"

"Yeah…and?"

"Dude," Nino managed to say after he wiped a tear from his eye, " _Dude_. I would tell you, but I was sworn to secrecy— _intimidating_ secrecy." He nodded in the direction of Alya, sending Adrien a silent message of 'you see why I can't say anything'.

"Okay?"

* * *

The four took to the dance floor and to their surprise, another slow song, not the one Master had played earlier, was echoing throughout the gym. Alya paired up with Nino, leaving Marinette and Adrien to awkwardly stand with each other.

"Hey, Marinette," Adrien began, unsure, "Do you, um, wanna dance?" The teen model extended one hand out to Marinette and swung the other behind his back.

It was as if Marinette's whole world stopped. No one else existed, just she and the beautiful, blond boy who _just asked to slow dance with her_! The blue-haired girl's eyes wandered to stare at her white flats and she bit her lip before making eye contact with Adrien.

He was absolutely radiant, emitting rays of golden sunshine from his warm smile as he waited for Marinette's answer. At a loss for words, she shyly nodded and accepted his inviting hand. The pair then made their way to the center of the gym's floor, all the while Marinette hadn't taken her eyes off of the floor beneath her jittery feet.

Adrien abruptly stopped and turned to face her. Marinette's bluebell orbs sparkled with a mixture of hope and fear as the blond model gazed into the depths of her eyes. She shakily rested one hand on his shoulder and he casually placed one hand at her waist. They brought their free hands together, and while Marinette's hand twitched at the contact, Adrien loosely gripped her dainty hand as a sign of ease. It immediately calmed her trembling hand and she let out a nervous breath.

One would think the pair would gracefully waltz across the floor, but that was not the case. Marinette got in her own head about how her confidence level dropped when she wasn't transformed; plus, with Adrien in such close proximity, her cool composure as Ladybug was bound to go from one hundred to zero. As a result, every move Marinette made, she would either lightly kick Adrien's feet, or step on them. At least she wasn't in her heels, because that would definitely not be a pleasant feeling.

The bluenette couldn't hide her guilt-stricken face from the blond, however. First, she accidentally punched him and most likely broke his nose, now she was stomping all over his shoes with her two left feet!

"Sorry so me! I mean, so sorry I'm! I mean—I'm not a good dancer," Marinette spewed out and hung her head low in embarrassment. Yeah, there was no way she was going to risk looking Adrien in the eyes, in his big, beautiful, green…okay, maybe just _one_ peek.

She tilted her head up slightly and was met with the warm glow of Adrien's friendly smile and entrancing eyes.

"That's okay," he looked down to her feet and grinned, "I have a rather simple solution."

Marinette barely caught the wink he sent her way before he picked her up by the waist and set her down again so each of her feet were resting on his. She was on her tip-toes, balancing on the tops of Adrien's shoes, but still she swayed back and forth a smidge.

Adrien noted the lack of stability the blue-haired girl possessed, so he took her hands in his and coiled them around his neck for her. He then proceeded to set his hands on the petite girl's waist once again. Then, in tandem with the soft music that played, Adrien began to dance while holding onto Marinette as they rocked side to side with the steady beat.

Marinette was too busy furiously blushing to look at the blond, so she moved her head to peer over his shoulder. Her bluebell eyes spotted a rip on the back of Adrien's shirt, just below his right shoulder. The teen's designer instincts kicked in and she glued her eyes to the tear in the white fabric.

"Shirt. Rip. About three centimeters," she spoke up shyly. Marinette could feel the puzzled look Adrien gave her, so she continued, "Your shirt has a small hole in the back. I'm assuming from when we fell in the closet, it probably caught on something and tore open."

"Really?" Adrien whimpered, "Father is gonna kill me for ruining a dress shirt from his new line. To be honest, I didn't tell him I was borrowing it…I mean, I'm gonna wear it for a shoot I have later, but still."

This rebellious side of Adrien was something entirely new to Marinette, she found it kind of…hot? What was up with the blonds in her life? Chat Noir acting formally like a true gentleman, and now Adrien acting…well…more rebellious. An idea struck the bluenette like lightning—a kind of idea Alya would usually have.

"M-Maybe I could fix it?" she offered, "I-I mean so your dad wouldn't find out. I mend clothing all the time, so I could make it look good as new…or rather, like there was never a rip. If you want, that is."

The blond's silence made Marinette's ears practically bleed from how deafening it was. Finally, Adrien breathed a sigh of relief and she could feel his locks of hair brush against her cheek as he nodded.

"That would be totally awesome of you, Marinette!" he grinned, "Do you think you could do it now? Like right now?"

Marinette leaned back and stared excitedly into his emerald eyes, a wide smile stretched across her cheeks as well as a touch of blushing red. "Yes!" she squealed all too quickly and enthusiastically. She cleared her throat and simmered down her overwhelming joy, "Ahem, I mean, yes. I would be honored to."

"Great! Let me just call my bodyguard."

* * *

 **I would love to see what you think in the reviews: what you like, what you dislike, what you want to see happen, and or any predictions you have for future chapters. I have the next five or so chapters planned already, but I still love to see what guys have to say. Also, let me know if you have any ideas for alternate endings (private message me for those).**

 **That's all for now, folks...so until next chapter, toodles! :D**


	17. Chapter 17: Coup de Foudre Deux

Hello beautiful people! Okay so I've been wanting to write this extra-long, extra fluffy chapter for so long now and I'm so happy I finally got to write it! Thank you so much for your kind reviews and continual support. Also, I'll be honest, I didn't even notice that this story hit over 200 follows! _What_? That is all thanks to you guys, so this chapter is for you! Enjoy! :3

* * *

 **Chapter 17**

* * *

The clouds were spitting raindrops as Marinette and Adrien slipped outside the high school. Because Adrien had stopped to get his bag on the way out, they used it as a makeshift umbrella to shield themselves from the light downpour. While the blond busied himself with retrieving his fencing bag—Marinette didn't question why Adrien wanted to take it home again—from his locker, Marinette had snatched the red rose and promise ring from her locker and promptly shoved them in her purse.

Now, they were scurrying to Adrien's car and trying to avoid the rainstorm that grew more intense as the seconds passed. Sure, the two of them could have just walked to Marinette's place, but he insisted they drive there to avoid the rain and because it was more gentlemanly of him and just classier that way. The two high schoolers _were_ at a fancy-ish dance, after all.

The car ride was slow, maybe it was the Gorilla's driving due to the rain or Marinette was just imagining things because it took a bit too long to get to her house…which was literally across the street from the school.

Out of the blue, the blond model broke the awkward silence between them, "Weren't you wearing a necklace before?"

"Huh?" the bluenette responded, whipping her head to the side to face Adrien.

She didn't anticipate on him leaning in closer to get a better inspection of where her missing necklace once rested, so she nearly crashed her nose with his when she turned to face him. A deep blush crept onto Marinette's face, accentuating the freckles that were scattered across her cheeks and nose.

She backed away rather quickly from the green-eyed daydream as she averted her blue orbs from him. Adrien was thankful Marinette seemed to not have noticed the light blush that burned his cheeks mere seconds before, especially because he no longer had the black mask to hide behind.

Then the blue-haired girl realized she did not, in fact, acknowledge Adrien's observation. "Oh, um, m-my necklace?" She touched her hand to her chest to find that she didn't remember to put the cat-charm back on, Tikki was supposed to remind her of these things! "Uh, it might have fallen off…it's no big deal, though. Things get lost all the time—not _my_ things, I mean, I'm not _that_ irresponsible that I lose things all the time. Well, I just told you I lost my necklace…but that doesn't count because it only just happened and I usually never lose things—not that I've lost anything before! Because I-"

The rambling bluenette was silenced by the giggles that erupted out of the blond and echoed throughout the vehicle. Marinette cringed at how she went off mindlessly spewing out things in front of Adrien… _again_.

"I'm not…laughing at…you," the model spoke between chuckles, "It's just…kinda funny how you…get…passionate about what you…talk about."

He wiped a tear that dared to fall from his eye as he attempted to settle his laughing fit. It didn't help when Marinette shyly joined in, starting out with a small giggle but breaking out into full-on bursts of laughter.

"I think…it's kinda…" Adrien continued through laughs, "…cute…"

That comment snapped Marinette right out of her chortles as she stared in shock at the blond, wondering if she maybe misheard him. Realization struck Adrien like lightning once he registered what he told Marinette between his laughs. However, he had no such luck this time around hiding the crimson color that took to his cheeks.

"Oh! Would you look at that, we're here!" Adrien jittered as he pointed to the bakery from behind the car window.

* * *

As soon as they walked into the Dupain-Cheng household, both the blond and bluenette were embraced in hugs from Tom and Sabine. Marinette's parents had sat the two Parisian high schoolers on the couch in the family room. Tom brought out a plate of cookies for them, while Sabine set down a small plate of cheese that Adrien politely requested.

"So, why are you two back so early?" Sabine inquired, "Isn't the dance still going on for another two hours or so?"

Marinette and Adrien exchanged a look before the blue-haired girl spoke up, "Well, um, Adrien's shirt has a hole-"

"Lot of style!" Tom interjected with a chuckle and Adrien joined in with his own laughter that filled the room. Marinette liked to think that his laugh was what honey and rainbows sounded like after being dipped in sugar.

"Good one, Mr. Dupain-Cheng!" Adrien laughed.

Marinette brought her hand to her face, placed her thumb and forefinger on the bridge of her nose, shook her head, and silently groaned. She just couldn't seem to escape the bad puns and dad jokes in her life. When it wasn't Chat Noir, it was Tom evoking unamused mumbles to pour from Marinette's mouth.

" _As I was saying_ ," she piped up, silencing the two males all giddy about the pun Tom had made, "Adrien's shirt has a hole in it and I offered to sew it up for him because his dad would be really upset—and I mean _really_ upset—if he goes home with a rip in it."

"Well, Marinette's the right girl to fix up your shirt, son," Tom boasted to Adrien and patted him on the back in reassurance.

While smiling at the exchange, Sabine turned to Adrien and her eyes grew wide, for this was the first time since he and Marinette arrived that she looked closely enough at his face. "Adrien! Your nose! Oh my goodness, what happened? Does it hurt? Well, of course it must hurt—it's all red and swollen. I'll get you some ice…Tom, get the arnica oil."

Adrien smiled to himself as Marinette's parents zipped around the kitchen and Sabine continued murmuring to herself about what she needed, having a full-on conversation with herself.

 _That's where Marinette must get the rambling from,_ he thought in amusement.

About two minutes later, the burly man and petite woman returned to the teens who awkwardly sat a few feet apart in silence on the couch. The married couple carried with them a bag of ice cubes, cotton balls, a box of wide bandages, and a small bottle containing the oil.

"Okay, if you don't mind, I'm going to take care of your nose," Sabine said soothingly as she plopped herself down in between Adrien and Marinette. Tom passed the arnica oil and cotton balls to his daughter, then disappeared from the room. "Adrien, honey, how on Earth did this happen?"

"Um…Marinette, actually," he began, "Not on purpose, of course, it was an accident. It's a long story, but it's also how I tore a hole in my shirt."

"Marinette _is_ pretty clumsy," Sabine joked.

"Maman," the blue-haired girl uttered in embarrassment, causing both her mother and Adrien to chuckle.

The bluenette inched closer to her mom, oil and cotton balls in hand, and peered over the short woman's shoulder to gain a better look of the laughing blond. By mistake, she made eye contact with his gorgeous, green eyes and blocked out her surroundings, for she became immersed in the kindness swimming in those emerald pools. She swore she heard her name being called, but wasn't certain.

"Marinette!" Sabine shouted once more, this time grabbing her daughter's attention, "I said that I need the arnica oil and cotton balls, please."

"Oh, sorry, here," the blue-haired girl passed the two items to her mom and watched intently as she poured some of the viscous, yellow substance onto some cotton.

"Excuse me," Adrien spoke up as Sabine began to apply the oil to his nose, "But what does this stuff do?"

"Arnica oil will help speed up the healing process and prevent bruising…which I'm sure will come in handy with your modeling job and all," the blue-haired woman smiled sweetly at the green-eyed boy.

Marinette would often use the oil secretly after battles with akumatized people to help with any injuries the miraculous cure spell didn't take care of—which was almost never. But still, as plain, old Marinette, she was pretty clumsy and that tincture would speedily heal and conceal the injuries she procured by…well…being Marinette. She even planned to apply some to her left shoulder that she injured after her dance with Chat Noir once she stitched up Adrien's shirt.

After Sabine had finished tending to Adrien's small 'Marinette-induced' wound, the two teens climbed the stairs to Marinette's room. Upon opening the hatch, the model was still shocked by how pink everything was.

He was holding a bag of ice over his nose that didn't end up needing to be bandaged and balanced the plates of cheese and cookies in his other hand. Marinette was carrying both her purse and Adrien's fencing bag, but set them down on her chaise gently so she wouldn't jostle Tikki around too much.

She put the pink rose on her desk and turned around to find Adrien standing directly behind her. Marinette would have probably knocked him over by running into him, but she jumped back in time upon seeing his bright, peridot eyes.

"So," Adrien began, setting down the plates of food on one end of her desk, "About this shirt."

"Right. Shirt. Hole. Fix," Marinette choppily said, never breaking eye contact with the blond. The young designer pivoted around again, shuffled over to her sewing machine, dug through the drawer containing sewing supplies, and fished around for a needle and white thread.

As soon as she found what she needed, Marinette turned to face Adrien, and was met with a handsome, _shirtless_ , blond model; his lean form with defined muscles—and was that a six-pack?—were showing for the world to see, or rather, just her.

Marinette wouldn't be surprised if her nose was actually bleeding at this point, but she knew for a fact that she _was_ blushing…maybe a bit too much because she felt like her cheeks were on fire. And here he was, perfectly handsome Adrien Agreste, staring at her with a child-like innocence with his white shirt in one hand and ice in his other. The way he stretched his arm up to hold the ice over his nose perfectly displayed the flex of his abs. Oh no…she'd been staring for too long at him…more specifically, his _beautiful_ tanned body. How she wished she could just take a picture to last her forever. _That_ would go front and center on her computer desktop.

"Marinette?" she heard a voice say, "Marinette? Are you okay?"

And back to reality for the bluenette as she shook her head free of her daydreaming and focused on the still-bare-chested blond. She quickly averted her eyes, knowing that her red-tinted cheeks would only deepen in color if she gazed any longer at him. Marinette almost dropped the needle and thread she procured, but tightened her grip on them as she fully turned away from Adrien and made her way to the trapdoor of her room.

"Uh, s-sorry," she jittered, "I-I-I'm gonna get you one of my dad's shirts so I won't get distracted—um, _I mean_ , so you won't get cold…or anything…uh…be right back!"

And with that speedy exclamation, the blue-haired girl disappeared out of her room and swung the hatch shut behind her. Marinette wasn't as paranoid leaving Adrien alone in her room now because she left those many pictures of him off her walls. Maybe she should just leave them down from now on, especially since Chat Noir _and_ Adrien had been in her room lately.

While Marinette busied herself with getting Adrien a shirt to cover up in, the blond model was left to wonder what had gotten his classmate so flustered. He'd be lying if he said he didn't think it was a bit cute, but he still had no clue as to what came over her.

Since he now stood alone in her _very pink_ bedroom, he found himself wandering around the space. However, something peeking out of a drawer caught his eye, so Adrien carried himself over to see what it was.

The blond set his bag of ice and white shirt on the desk and pulled the drawer open. His eyes grew wide in surprise as he was faced with two dolls, side by side, tucked away in the desk's compartment. He carefully picked up the Ladybug doll and cradled it in his hands, remembering the fight with Puppeteer several months ago. Adrien recalled how that little brat took control of him using the Chat Noir doll, so he scooped up that one as well.

He believed Marinette's doll to be a good representation of his _claw_ -some suit and _paw_ -mazing looks. Adrien chuckled at the thought of his lady rolling her eyes at the puns he just thought of. Then, a rather immature and childish thought rushed into Adrien's brain.

"Why, hello there, M'Lady," Adrien said whilst bobbing the Chat doll around. He then started to animate the Ladybug doll's actions as he, in his best 'lady-like' voice, added, "Oh, Chat Noir…you look so handsome. I could just kiss you right _meow_." Adrien giggled to himself before continuing with the Chat Noir doll, "M'Ladybug, was that a pun? I didn't think I could fall even more in love with _mew_!" Adrien paused to let out a joyous laugh and switched to the Ladybug doll, "Forget about your hilariously charming and clever puns and just kiss me already!" Adrien practically squeed with delight as he brought the two dolls together to imitate a kiss.

"…Adrien?"

The blond froze in place, dropped the dolls to the floor, and whipped his head around, his cheeks burning a bright pink hue as his whole body stiffened. Getting caught by Marinette had to be one of the most embarrassing things to have ever happened to him—especially since he was playing with _her_ dolls like a five-year-old boy!

"M-Marinette!" he squeaked, "H-Hey, you're back! Great! Let's, um, sew up that shirt, heh…"

Adrien was gob-smacked and nervously scratched the back of his head as he glued his eyes to his shoes to avoid the shocked stare Marinette gave him. That plan failed as he trailed his green orbs to the dolls that laid by his feet, mere inches away, so he lifted his head up and looked guiltily back to the bluenette.

"W-What were you doing?" Marinette asked, unsure of what she just witnessed. She had reentered her room with one of Tom's shirts just as Adrien had the dolls kissing, so she had no clue what led up to him doing…well… _that_.

"I, um, found your dolls and…" Adrien's voice trailed off as he looked dumbly at the floor again, "I'm kind of a LadyNoir shipper."

"A Lady-what?" Marinette inquired, genuinely intrigued, as she tossed the large blue shirt to Adrien. What Adrien said sounded like it was about Ladybug, and if it involved her, then of course she wanted to know what her crush's thoughts were on the subject.

Adrien slipped the blue, collared shirt over his head and, as Marinette predicted, it was far too large for him; but, it would have to suffice so long as Marinette wouldn't drool over the blond's bare, upper body. He chortled quietly to himself at the blue-haired girl's cluelessness about what Alya constantly posted on her blog. He figured since the two girls were close, Marinette would at least know what Alya posted about.

"I coined the name from Alya's blog," Adrien remarked, "'LadyNoir' is what people call Ladybug and Chat Noir. At least, the people who want those two to be a couple or think they belong together. Like me."

Marinette groaned out of habit at the mention of she and Chat Noir being a 'thing', but clamped her hand over her mouth as soon as she realized what she muttered. Adrien shot her a puzzled look as he took a seat on her chaise, next to his fencing bag.

"Don't want the ship to sail, huh?" he rested his chin in his hand as he looked up at her.

"What? Sorry, I don't know what that means…but I don't like the idea of Ladybug and Chat Noir being a couple," Marinette implied casually and plopped herself down in her swivel chair. She picked up the white shirt Adrien placed next to his ice bag on her desk and whipped out her needle. As she threaded it with the white thread, she continued, "Ladybug and Chat are partners, _superhero_ partners, and superhero partners shouldn't have that kind of relationship." For a moment, the bluenette had a painful flashback to when she had promptly rejected the cat-boy earlier that night. "Besides, he isn't her type, anyway," she more so said to herself than to the blond.

"What do mean 'isn't her type'? What 'type' is he that Ladybug wouldn't like?" Adrien countered, slightly offended by his classmate's statement.

"Oh, you know, a showoff, a jokester, a flirt," Marinette began to list off the aspects of Chat Noir that she wasn't as big a fan of. The blond boy was left dumbfounded at all of the things the bluenette said about him. She didn't really think those things…did she?

If that was true, why had she always been so nice to him when he would visit her as his alter ego? She acted like such a huge fan when he first met her as Chat Noir, but maybe she secretly disliked all those traits of his? Wait a second, he wasn't a showoff, or a jokester—okay, sure he cracked the occasional quip—and he was definitely _not_ a flirt!

 _So, where was all of this coming from Marinette?_ he pondered.

"Then…why did you dress as him today?" he sheepishly asked, "I mean, you were the only one, so why dress as Chat Noir if you think all of those things about him?"

Marinette's bluebell eyes widened as she tore her attention away from the designer shirt and glanced up at Adrien. Realization donned on her and she realized how she sounded like she was talking badly about her partner. "Don't get me wrong, he has a lot of great qualities, too. It's just…I don't think Chat Noir is the one for Ladybug. She doesn't like that he shows off and gets cocky at times, she _definitely_ isn't a fan of those puns, and he flirts with her constantly just like all the other girls—at least, that's what I've observed."

 _Is that why my lady rejected me? She probably thinks all those things about me, too_ , Adrien thought. "Chat Noir isn't a flirt. He doesn't flirt with other girls, just Ladybug—from what I've observed."

Marinette focused on stitching up the shirt again as she mumbled "Well, he kind of acts that way with me…"

Adrien perked up and dropped his jaw so low, that it barely grazed above the floor. He didn't think he ever flirted with Marinette, unless it came across that way and he didn't realize it? The blond noticed the heavy silence that took to the room and assumed Marinette was confused by his lack of response to her comment.

"D-Does Chat Noir visit you or something?" he stuttered, hoping he didn't come across as obviously knowing the answer.

"Yeah, sometimes," Marinette replied, not taking her eyes off of her work, "I've gotten to know him as someone who's loyal, kind, brave, selfless, and so much more. But…he does come off as a bit flirty and I believe that's why Ladybug doesn't see him as a love interest."

"Hm…that's cool that he visits you," Adrien said warmly, "You really think he's a flirt then, huh?"

Marinette paused what she was doing and looked into Adrien's green eyes that were blooming with hope and kindness. She smiled and voiced, "It's just what I think he he comes off as. I could be wrong…in fact, I'm pretty sure I _am_ wrong. But that doesn't automatically mean that he and Ladybug should be dating or anything. Plus, you never know if there's another guy in her life."

On the outside, Adrien smiled at Marinette, who had gone back to finishing up his shirt. But on the inside, Adrien whimpered and cried out as he was reminded of Ladybug's words: _'There's someone else.'_

"Voilà!" Marinette exclaimed, pulling Adrien out of the painful memory from just hours ago. The bluenette proudly held up the white shirt to reveal it had been patched up. Adrien jumped to his feet and bounded over to Marinette to closer examine the shirt

"Wow, Marinette," he breathed, "This is amazing! I can't tell it was ever ripped!"

The designer girl nearly swooned at how overjoyed she made Adrien that she didn't notice him change back into the white shirt.

* * *

The rain was coming down heavily now as Marinette and Adrien stood in the doorway of the bakery's side exit/entrance. The blond had slung his fencing bag over his shoulder after dumping the cheese from the plate inside for Plagg to munch on—that pig-of-a-cat kwami.

So, here they were, standing before the rain and patiently waiting for Adrien's ride to arrive. Finally, the car pulled up to the curb right outside the bakery with the raindrops pattering off its surface. The blond braced himself to be soaked by walking out into the downpour, but a nervous voice stopped him.

"W-Wait one s-sec," Marinette stammered, "I'll be right back!"

Less than a minute later, the bluenette reappeared at the doorway, carrying what seemed to be a black umbrella. Adrien's suspicions were confirmed correct when she opened the contraption and stepped out a few paces into the rain.

All Adrien could think of was how lovely she looked with the moonbeams bouncing off of her own radiant glow. When Marinette turned to look at him again, his lip quivered and he forced it into a smile.

"I've been meaning to give this back to you," she said quietly as she extended her arm out and offered the umbrella to the model.

A clap of thunder surprised him, making him jump a little. With that brief moment of jitteriness, Adrien hesitantly accepted the umbrella. He stared deep into her bluebell eyes and felt a sense of familiarity gazing into the endless blue depths.

"Th-Thanks," he piped up, "I should probably give this back to you, then, huh?"

The blond reached into the pocket of his black, suit pants and pulled out a red cord laced with various beads strung on it. Marinette's eyes grew wide at her good luck charm that he retrieved from the fold in his pants.

"You still have that?" she questioned as she took a step closer to Adrien.

"Yeah, I hope you don't mind that I've kinda kept it with me at all times," Adrien retorted, his eyes trailing down to his shoes and he sighed, "I figured it would maybe bring me some good luck in a lot of the… _destruction_ I face."

"Well…" Marinette squeaked, "K-Keep it."

"Are you sure?" he asked as he held the beaded strand out to her, "It's yours…"

Marinette giggled and smiled brightly at Adrien, a faint blush taking to her cheeks, "I'm sure. Think of it as an apology for breaking your perfect face."

"What was that about my face?" the model slyly grinned and arched one eyebrow, cocking his head to the side.

"N-Nothing!" she spewed out quickly to cover her slip-up, her blush growing hotter by the second, "Um…look at that, your car is waiting…um…see you later! Bye!"

"Uh, bye?" Adrien replied uncertain. Once again, his classmate left him confused as her demeanor completely changed, "Well, um, see you in school tomorrow. I had a great time with you tonight."

"See you tomo-tomo—heh, yeah, tomor-" Marinette's stammering was interrupted by the laugh that trickled out of Adrien's mouth.

"Goodnight, Marinette," he smiled as he turned and shuffled to his car.

As soon as Adrien was buckled up in his seat in the car, Plagg decided to zip out of the fencing bag that housed the blond's Chat Noir change of clothes.

"What did I tell you?" Plagg piped up, "You've got two lovebirds, kid."

"No, Plagg," Adrien giggled, "Marinette…she's just…a friend?"

* * *

 **Oh. My. God. I am squeeing so much at the fluff right now. As always, please leave your thoughts in the reviews: what you like, dislike, want to see happen, etc. I** ** _love_** **reading what you lovelies have to say!**

 **For those of you wondering what happened to "The Next Generation", I'm gonna take a little break from that story and focus on updates for this one instead. I will continue it though...eventually. That's all for now, folks, so until next chapter, toodles! :D**


	18. Chapter 18: Triple Buss

Hello beautiful people... _again_! Wow, twice in one day. So someone just told me it's 'Marichat May' and I couldn't help but post this, too. I've actually had this written for some time now and I have been patiently waiting to post it and I simply can't wait anymore! Shout-out to those of you in the reviews who suggested a reference to "Aristocats"...it's your time to shine! Enjoy this fluffy (and a little sinful- wait, what? Pfft, I didn't say sinful...) chapter! :3

* * *

 **Chapter 18**

* * *

Since Adrien had left, Marinette had only really changed into her white and pink pajamas, leaving her bra _on_ this time, and put her hair in her signature pigtails. She didn't bother taking off her makeup because frankly, she didn't feel like it. But, even though she didn't feel like doing homework either, she had to finish her physics textbook activity.

Well past midnight, the bluenette grew bored with her studies and simply gave up on trying to finish them…her teachers would understand being that the dance was tonight, right? Marinette only hoped that would be the case tomorrow. She shoved her schoolwork away into her backpack and pushed away from her desk on her swivel chair.

Her blue orbs landed on her pink pouch that rested on the chaise from when she first reentered her room with Adrien. Shortly after he had taken his leave, Marinette had put the dolls back away and put her pink rose in some water by her computer monitor. Which reminded her…

The blue-haired teen leapt from the pink chair and reached for her polka dot purse that laid on the end on the pink cushion. Marinette unclipped the bag and dumped out the contents onto her chaise, spreading them out across the surface of the piece of furniture.

She scooped up her Ladybug accessories—the gloves and mask—as well as her cat charm necklace that she forgot to put back on, and strutted over to her chest of drawers. Marinette hid them beneath a layer of folded clothes and strolled back over to the chaise, where she knelt before what remained on the pink-spotted seat: the red rose.

Marinette carefully cradled the flower with a bent stem in her dainty hands and waltzed over to her desk where the pink rose was displayed. The bluenette took a seat in her swivel chair and was about to better examine the red flower when she heard a tapping at her window. She froze in fear, but quickly scrambled to stash the rose into her desk compartment before seeing who was at her window—but she had a pretty good guess as to who it was.

The blue-haired girl jumped to her feet and practically skipped over to the window behind her chaise and, _big surprise_ , it was none other than Chat Noir.

"Well, if it isn't Thomas O'Malley," Marinette chirped as she opened the window for the feline superhero. He bounded to the floor with a touch of grace and poise so that her sleeping parents wouldn't wake up upon the superhero entering the apartment. He held what seemed to be a plastic bag behind his back, but Marinette wasn't completely sure, as he was hiding it. "Three visits in less than twenty-four hours? I'd say that's a new record."

"First 'Peeping Tomcat', now 'Thomas O'Malley'?" Chat Noir chuckled, "If I didn't know any better, Princess, I'd say you either _think_ my name is Thomas, or you _want_ it to be."

A smile stretched across the blue-haired girl's lips as she inched closer to him. "I do kinda like that name… _is_ that your name?" she joked, "Because if it is, I can officially say I'm psychic." She wiggled her fingers in front of her face, elbows tucked in, as she made eerie 'ooh' noises.

"Maybe it is…maybe it isn't," the black-clad hero chuckled, "But if I'm Thomas O'Malley, who's my Duchess?"

Marinette tapped a finger to her chin before vocalizing sarcastically, "Hm, I wonder…someone with sapphire eyes, no doubt."

"Well, that would be my lady, of course. Although, she has these pretty bluebell eyes, so not really _sapphires_ , per say…" As his voice trailed off, Marinette couldn't help but blush as he unknowingly complimented her. She never heard a genuine compliment from the black-clad superhero as such about her Ladybug persona, especially to her face. However, as quickly as she seeped into her train of thought, the blond's words struck her right back into reality, "Kinda like yours."

"What?"

"Your eyes," Cat Noir repeated, "They're sort of bluebell-like and _kinda_ resemble sapphires…but I'll stick with calling you 'Princess', Princess. After all, princesses outrank duchesses."

"Okay?" she remarked, partially amused by her kitty's blurb about her nickname, and went on to say dramatically, "Now then, is this another 'just stopping by' visit from the great Chat Noir of Paris?"

"I wanted to give these back to you," Chat said, outstretching his hand which grasped the plastic grocery bag containing her mask and ears. She shook her head, twin tails bouncing, as she giggled at the blond cat-boy, lowering his arm with her two dainty hands.

"Keep them," she retorted, "They might come in handy for the future."

"Y-You're serious?" Chat Noir asked, wide-eyed and trying to hold back his sudden excitement. Marinette had been so generous and kind today already, he didn't think anyone could be so selfless and friendly, other than Ladybug, that is.

She nodded gleefully as Chat tossed the bag on the chaise before growing silent and distant. Marinette noticed the way her silly kitty was slouching and how his eyes were glazed over with what she read as sorrow. She hoped he wouldn't get akumatized; she hated the idea of fighting her partner. Then again, how _hadn't_ he been akumatized by now?

"Are you okay?"

"Me? Yeah, yeah! Wh-Why wouldn't I be okay?" the feline hero jittered. He let out an exhausted sigh and flopped onto Marinette's chaise. When Marinette made a move to sit as well, he slid down to the edge of the seat so she had room.

It pained Marinette to see the blond who was always so energetic and positive seem so depressed. It was like seeing a constant ray of sunshine that was prevented from beaming because of dark clouds—or the energizer bunny running on nearly dead batteries.

Marinette decided she had to say something, "Wanna talk about it? Unless you'd rather talk to Ladybug-"

"No!" Cat screeched, but quickly clapped his gloved hand over his mouth in attempt to retract his yelp. Alas, it was too late as Sabine was already calling up to Marinette, asking if she was okay. Her mom bought Marinette's story of falling out of her bed…after all, she _should_ be asleep in bed right now.

"Did you and Ladybug get in a fight or something?" Marinette knew the answer already: she could never get in a fight with her kitty. But what about what had gone down at the dance hours ago? The awkward exchange thanks to that truth beam very well may have damaged their partnership and friendship. The promise ring he gifted her only added to the fractured relationship.

"No, but…I found out she…she doesn't like me. At least, not the way I love her," Chat spoke just above a whisper, his head hung low as he stared at the floor. "I-I'm sorry, you probably don't want to hear me ramble on about my lady problems. I just…don't have anyone else to talk to."

A pang of guilt jolted through Marinette from her head to her toes as she stared in disbelief at the black-clad boy—the boy who _she_ made feel this way. He just unknowingly admitted to her that he _loved_ her; it was something Marinette always assumed he joked about, being a flirt and all, but maybe he was only like that because all this time he actually _loved_ her? How could she have been so blind and constantly rejected him? Maybe Adrien was right about this alley cat, after all.

Without thinking, the blue-haired girl did what felt like instinct to her, especially when it came to comforting her loved ones. Before either of them knew it, the two were embraced in a tight hug.

Chat Noir buried his head in Marinette's right shoulder as she stroked his golden locks and pat his back gently. His hair was surprisingly soft in her bare hands, as she never got to feel it when transformed. Marinette continued to cradle him, rubbing his back soothingly and rocking back and forth. She picked up on that trick from her mom, who did so whenever Marinette felt upset, and it would instantly settle her.

The feline superhero wasn't expecting his princess to pull him into a hug, but he found he quite enjoyed it. Marinette smelled of vanilla and cinnamon…it was her signature Marinette scent, her Mari- _scent_ , as Chat called it; of course, she wasn't partial to the name. He mostly liked her Mari- _scent_ because it reminded him of how Ladybug smelled—or at least that time he got a whiff of her in the bakery. Come to think of, it was probably just the bakery's aroma he sniffed.

Chat Noir knew one thing at this moment: he didn't want to ever let go of his friend, the friend who comforted him, hugged him, calmed him, and made him feel safe. She reminded him a great deal of how his mother comforted him before she up and disappeared two years ago.

Marinette was first to pull out of their hold and was reluctantly followed by Chat Noir, who instantly missed the warmth of his classmate. She gazed into his green eyes, which resembled a grassy meadow—so serene and beautiful. Chat thought the same of the blue-head's sapphire eyes, and how they sparkled like the ocean when she looked at him. The blond hadn't noticed how close he leaned into Marinette until their noses barely brushed against each other's.

Marinette snapped out of the trance that Chat Noir's emerald eyes entrapped her in, but Chat kept leaning in. His eyelids grew heavy as he looked down to Marinette's lips. Before Marinette had the chance to think, Chat closed the gap between them, pressing his lips against her soft ones.

Their kiss was short-lived, hardly a peck, as Marinette placed her hands on his chest and pushed him back off of her. Her eyes widened with a mixture of shock, anger, and betrayal laced in her facial expression. It intimidated Chat almost as much as Ladybug, but he knew Marinette wouldn't go so far as to physically hurt him in addition to staring angrily like his lady had done in the past one time…would she?

"What do you think you're doing!" she spat, her brows furrowed and her lips tugged into a small frown. Her eyes were intense and somewhat cold as she scooted back away from the black-clad hero.

"I-I-I don't know," Chat stammered, "I-I thought-"

"I like someone else," Marinette interjected, silencing the cat-boy. Her face softened as she noticed the broken and hurt look on her partner's face. She remembered how not even four hours ago, she rejected Chat Noir's feelings for Ladybug with uncontrollable and bitter honesty, and did the same thing to him just now as Marinette, only this time she _was_ in control. This was a recipe for Hawkmoth to akumatize him. "I'm…sorry. I-I shouldn't have led you on. I was just trying to make you feel better and I didn't mean for you to take it the wrong way because I was only doing something my mom does to me when I'm feeling upset and we're friends so I-"

Marinette's rambling was cut off when the blond's lips met hers again. She sighed into the kiss this time and leaned in closer to Chat Noir as their mouths danced with each other's. Cat raised his clawed hands and caressed Marinette's face, bringing her closer to him, and melting further into the tender kiss. He even dared to let a quiet moan rumble from his voice box as they pushed deeper into their kiss, setting ablaze a new fiery passion he thought could only be with Ladybug.

The bluenette's eyes snapped open at the noise and widened in realization…Chat Noir was kissing her _again_ and she was _kissing back_ this time. All the while, her heart belonged to Adrien, and here she was kissing another guy! Even though they weren't together, Marinette couldn't help but feel like she was cheating on Adrien with Chat Noir. She pushed the superhero away once again, this time hurt and disappointment swam around in her blue eyes.

"No, I like someone else," she weakly voiced, " _This_ …whatever _this_ is, can't happen. You like Ladybug, and I like Ad-er, _another_ guy," her reasoning made Chat Noir look down at the floor in a mix of embarrassment and shame.

"I-I know," he spoke above a whisper, "I'm sorry…I don't know what came over me. I should go." He stood up and looked at the window above the chaise and started for it, only he felt a tug on his tail before his feet could carry him any farther.

"Wait," Marinette squeaked, "Stay…please?" Chat gave her a puzzled look before he inched his way back over to the bluenette. He cautiously and stiffly sat back down next to Marinette, acting as if one wrong move could trigger a bomb to go off.

The silence between the two was horrendous and pretty much made their ears bleed by how deafening it was. Marinette would steal glances at Chat Noir, and vise versa, when the other wasn't looking. Finally, the blond broke the minute of silence, but lacked his usual charm and teasing tone of voice.

"You're a girl," he piped up, staring at his boots as he hunched over and rested his forearms on his knees. "So, what do girls like?"

"What do you mean?" Marinette asked, bewildered.

"Like, how do I get Ladybug to like me back? What do girls like?"

Marinette was thankful that the truth beam's effects were long gone, because she didn't have the heart to tell him that Ladybug wouldn't return his feelings—no matter what romantic gesture he made. So long as Adrien was still the object of affection for Marinette, which would be indefinitely, Chat Noir had zero chance with the bug.

"Um…uh…" her voice trailed off as she tried to think of something to say, "I got nothing, heh. You'll have to ask one of your other 'princesses'." She elbowed him gently, causing a slight grin to appear on both of their faces.

"You know, you're my only _purr_ -incess," he smirked, "The only girl I really talk to when transformed, other than LB, that is."

Marinette didn't know whether to feel flattered or sorry for Chat Noir not having anyone else to talk to. Then, she remembered how he told her he didn't have a home, meaning Chat most likely didn't have anyone to talk to in normal life either. But, _again_ , if he was homeless, how did he get such a nice suit? Did she know any students from school who were without a home?

"While we're on the subject of love interests," Marinette blurted out, without thinking, "Do have any advice when it comes to guys? The boy I like doesn't know I exist outside of being just another classmate, and when I try to talk to him, I can't function properly!"

Chat chuckled as he tried to imagine Marinette stuttering and stammering, and barley able to walk across a room without her knees buckling. But, isn't that what he always saw Marinette do around him as Adrien? Wasn't that the shy, clumsy Marinette he had come to know as his civilian self?

 _Does that mean she…no, it couldn't. It's because I scare the living daylights out of her on a regular basis by just standing there. She's just still hung on that chewing gum incident and is probably just intimidated by me. Right_? Chat Noir pondered.

"Guys are oblivious, too much so for their own good," he laughed as he looked over to his classmate, who was staring at him with desperate eyes. He turned his whole body so he was now facing the blue-haired girl, and he grabbed her gently by the shoulders, looking intensely, yet warmly in her bluebell eyes. Marinette whimpered quietly at the painful contact Chat's hand made with her left shoulder, but did her best to hide her immense discomfort at the touch. She still needed to put that arnica oil on the spot she fell on from when the blond dropped her. "Any guy who doesn't see what a wonderful girl you are is blind. That, or he's too dumb to know a great girl when she walks in the room…such as yourself."

Marinette's cheeks grew warm and rosy, as did Chat's, but his mask hid most of the red tint brushed on his face. "Th-Thanks," she stuttered, "You really think all those things about m-me?" Her voice was hopeful, but also carried a heavy sadness, as her mind was elsewhere.

"Of course!" he exclaimed, "Marinette Dupain-Cheng, you are strong, smart, brave, kind, talented, and not to mention, pretty cute—a-a-at least that's what Ladybug says. N-Not that I don't think that, too, b-but she got me to really look at you and see how beautiful—I-I-I mean, _cute_ , you are…ahem…"

His words only deepened the shade of red that painted Marinette's cheeks, and Chat Noir was thankful the freckle-faced girl couldn't easily tell his face turned a brilliant shade of crimson. He didn't realize it, but as he was encouraging Marinette, he was thinking about Ladybug…he actually described Marinette with the same traits as his lady in red.

Marinette wasn't thinking, and when Marinette didn't think, she could do some pretty careless things. Like right now, Marinette wasn't thinking when she leaned in and pulled Chat closer for a kiss. She wrapped her slender fingers around his golden bell and tugged on it, bringing him closer to close the gap between them. What surprised Marinette was how Chat Noir didn't seem fazed by the sudden action, he just went along with it.

They pressed their lips together for one solid, long kiss; however, Marinette regained her ability to think and she broke the contact immediately, prying open the gap once more. She was breathing heavily and her eyes were filled with remorse and shame as she brought her knees to her chest and curled up in a ball.

"I-I-I'm so, so, _so_ sorry," she cried, burying her face in her knees—she dared not look up at the black-clad boy, "I-I-I wasn't thinking and I just-I just…sorry…"

"Hey," Chat soothed as he scooched closer to the weeping girl, "Don't sweat it. Let's call it even. I did the same thing to you… _twice_ , actually—come to think of it, I now see how un-gentlemanlike that was of me...but I'm totally fine with it coming from you."

Marinette uncoiled herself from her curled-up-ball state and fidgeted with her fingers in her lap. He lifted his gloved hand up to Marinette's face and softly cupped her chin, tilting her head up to look at him. He then took his clawed thumb and wiped away the stray tears that rolled down her freckle-dusted cheeks, all the while smiling brightly at her. The blond truly hated seeing the beautiful girl, inside and out, that he knew in tears.

"I, um, should go to bed," Marinette trailed off, looking over her shoulder and up to her loft bed, "It's…pretty late." She reluctantly turned her attention back to Chat, only because she could feel his peridot eyes burning holes in the back of her head.

"Want me to carry you-"

"No!" she squeaked, "I mean, no thank you, I can manage on my own." She timidly glanced down at her knees again and didn't peel her eyes away from them, not even when the blond pushed off of the chaise and made his way to the window, plastic bag slung over his shoulder.

"Goodnight, Prin-um, _Marinette_ ," he bowed over-dramatically, evoking a smile to stretch across the blue-head's lips. He leapt out the window and bounded away into the night, using his staff to propel himself. Once she was sure he was out of sight, Marinette popped up off the chaise to close and lock the window Chat exited through before she collapsed once again on the pink cushion.

And thus, not even knowing it, Chat Noir had cock-blocked himself.

* * *

 ***Looks around the room innocently* *cracks under pressure* FORGIVE ME, LORD, FOR I HAVE SINNED! Do I regret it? No. Am I Marichat trash? No (Yes). Will I include all four sides of Ladrienoirette in this fanfic?** ** _Hells yeah!_**

 **As for my initial estimated chapter count of about 30, I'm thinking it will be...let's see...a lot more than that. Let me know in the reviews what you like, dislike, want to see happen, and so on...you know the drill by now. I can't wait to see what you guys have to say. This fandom and specifically this fanfic will be the death of me. Well, until next chapter, toodles! :D**


	19. Chapter 19: Dilemmas

Hello beautiful people! Well, I'm sick with nothing better to do (I mean, I could do homework, but why do homework when I can write for you lovely readers?), so I whipped up this little baby. Enjoy! :3

* * *

 **Chapter 19**

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"Tikki, what do I do?" Marinette whined, covering her face with her hands, "I don't like Chat that way, and I don't want to break his heart so much so that he gets akumatized…and it'd be because of _me_!"

The ladybug creature emerged from her hiding spot behind Marinette's cat pillow, and floated down to the whimpering girl. "Then why did you kiss him?" she asked inquisitively, nudging Marinette's cheek.

"I don't know, I was thinking of Adrien and Chat was there and in my mind I guess I kind of imagined I was kissing Adrien? Ugh! I'm a horrible person…" she complained, still sprawled out on the chaise.

The bluenette failed to hear the kwami's soft giggles as she was too busy crying over her boy drama. It would be so easy for Tikki to tell Marinette that she _had_ kissed Adrien, but she knew the rules: she couldn't interfere with them finding out.

"You know," Tikki began with a smirk, "You aren't the first chosen ones Plagg and I have come across who don't return the other's feelings." Marinette picked her head up and wiped away the salty tears that stained her cheeks.

"Plaque…?"

" _Plagg_ ," the petite, red being corrected, "He's Chat Noir's kwami. We've known each other for…well…forever."

"Does he look like you? Or Wayzz?" Marinette asked, suddenly interested in what another kwami would look like. She could hardly believe that Plagg hadn't come up in earlier discussions of kwamis before, after all, he was her partner's kwami.

"No, he looks like…hang on," Tikki zipped over to Marinette's desk and went to pick up her sketchbook, but struggled to lift it. Marinette skipped over to her and sat down in her swivel chair, taking the sketchpad from Tikki's paws.

"Need a hand?" the bluenette giggled. She opened the pad to a blank sheet of paper and passed her kwami a charcoal pencil.

Tikki went to work on scribbling lines and curves, adding some shading here and there to the drawing. The bug-like kwami flew back from the sketchbook, admiring her work and giving a satisfactory nod.

"Aw, he looks cute," Marinette cooed as she studied the drawing, "Is he as nice as you and Wayzz, too?"

Tikki hesitated a moment before answering the blue-haired girl, "Sure, you could say that…he's 'nice' in his own way. He has strong opinions on things and can be quite stubborn at times. Plus, Plagg is _very_ food-driven."

Marinette giggled at Tikki's description and closed the drawing pad and tucked it away in her desk drawer, only to find the mashed rose she jammed in there earlier when Chat Noir paid yet another unexpected visit. Her eyes became glossed over with remorse and heavy sorrow for hurting her partner's heart…twice now: once as Ladybug and once as Marinette. She delicately swapped the sketchpad for the red rose and set the flower down gently on her desk.

The bluenette carefully undid the black ribbon that was still tied in a bow around the rose and placed the blood-red flower into the vase of water next to the pink one. Unfortunately, Marinette was either too tired or too oblivious, or a combination of the two, to notice the similarities in the roses' appearance and little details in their presentation when having them side by side in the water.

All that remained before Marinette was the dainty, silver, infinity ring tangled up in the black, lacey strip. Skillfully, she undid the knots that entrapped the ring and picked up the silver band, fiddling with it between her thumb and forefinger. Without a second thought, Marinette tossed the ring under her diary in the pink box she made and locked it up so she wouldn't have to look at the taunting promise ring any longer.

"Marinette, if you're worried about Chat Noir being akumatized," Tikki softly chimed, "He can't be…and neither can you. The miraculous protects you from falling under the influence of Hawkmoth's evil. So don't fret about that, okay?"

"Okay, Tikki," Marinette solemnly replied, gazing out her window and staring at the stars which danced in the dark ink that swirled around the night sky.

* * *

Chat Noir slipped through his bathroom window and touched down gracefully on the cool, tile floors. He released his transformation to be met with a green-eyed, blond model in the mirror. Adrien was impressed by how quickly the redness dwindled and swelling went down on his nose. He knew he wouldn't be seeing his father tonight, so he had more time to think up an excuse for why it looked like a cherry tomato was glued to his face. The blond made a mental note to get some of that oil for himself in case of future injuries on the job—his superhero job—or at school…especially around Marinette.

 _Marinette_ , Adrien wistfully thought.

"Bah ha ha," Plagg chortled as he floated in front of Adrien, "'She's just a friend'… _that_ is comedy gold, right there, kid."

Adrien brought his fingers to his lips and gently brushed his fingertips across them, breathless and without an answer to counter his kwami. "She…kissed me…" he whispered.

Plagg wiped a tear from his eye as he continued to laugh, "You don't say, Sherlock. You also kissed her twice before she did. Keep in mind I was there, too, pretty boy."

"Marinette kissed me," the blond breathed, " _On the lips_ …Ladybug never kissed me before…"

It was apparent that Adrien was in his own world and he couldn't hear anyone else who spoke to him. This just gave the cat-like being further proof that humans were strange creatures and nowhere near as advanced as kwamis, in Plagg's opinion, anyway; though, he observed humans were more complex when it came to feelings of romance.

"Well…" the cat kwami stretched out his voice which was unusually high-pitched. Plagg recalled the time Ladybug kissed Chat Noir to break Dark Cupid's spell, but decided he didn't feel like explaining that detail about one of duo's battles.

"She said she liked someone else," Adrien dreamily said, "But she kissed me—er, _Chat Noir_...but _I'm_ Chat Noir, so she still technically kissed _me_."

It didn't make sense to him. The blond originally kissed Marinette out of instinct…until she pushed him away. But that fiery attitude reminded him so much of his lady that when he kissed her the second time, Adrien imagined he was kissing Ladybug. It was wrong of him to pretend his friend was the spotted heroine, that much he knew, but he couldn't resist the urge to have that physical contact with her.

What didn't help was when the bluenette had kissed him back that second time, convincing Adrien that he was making out with his lady when it was only Marinette. Then the third time, _she_ initiated the kiss! Oh God, he had to see her tomorrow at school…

"Yoo hoo, lover boy," Plagg irritably waved a paw in front of the model boy's sun-kissed face, "Are you finished daydreaming?"

"Huh? Oh, Plagg," Adrien snapped back to reality and took in his surroundings to see he was still standing in his bathroom. The blond slung the grocery bag off his shoulder and proceeded to toss the plastic bag containing Marinette's clip-on cat ears and mask on the marble countertop.

Adrien trudged out into his vast bedroom, made his way to his bed that was tucked away on the left side of the space, and fell back onto his mattress. "Plagg?"

"What now?" the petite, black kwami grumbled, "Unless you're going to give me some camembert-"

"Plagg," the blond sternly retorted, staring blankly at the ceiling. That change in tone shushed up the cat creature instantly as he hovered over to his charge. "I need advice— _real_ advice."

"Ugh…fine, I'm all ears," Plagg muttered as he reluctantly listened to Adrien's dilemma.

"I love Ladybug, I always will, even if she doesn't return my feelings," the model began, still gazing up at his ceiling and arms spread out from his sides, "But I might have feelings for Marinette…only, she doesn't return mine either. Thinking more about how she kissed me, I could just _tell_ it wasn't meant for me…it's like she was kissing someone else, like how I was. Like, she kissed me, but imagined it was someone else—I'm guessing whoever she _does_ like—which was what I was doing by pretending Marinette was Ladybug when I kissed her and-"

"Whoa, kid, let me stop you there," Plagg butt in, "You're making my head hurt…my poor aching head…I need some cheese."

With that, the black kwami zipped away from the blond and dashed out of his bedroom, leaving Adrien alone with his confused thoughts running rampant in his brain. The blond had no clue what to do about his lady/princess problem, and Plagg was certainly of no help to him, as per usual.

As Adrien resumed his frenzy of the whole 'kiss fiasco', Plagg snickered to himself as he flew down the hall and away from Adrien's quarters. It would be so easy to tell him that Marinette was Ladybug, and the look on his face would be priceless, too. Alas, the black cat kwami knew that Tikki would be fuming with disappointment if she discovered that he told Adrien.

Plagg started to consider if breaking the rules would be worth it to put an end to his chosen's whining and girl trouble. Not to mention, it would be hilariously entertaining to watch the realization on Adrien's face…

* * *

 **By now, you beautiful people should know that I ask you to leave a review about what you like, what you dislike, what you want to see happen, and or any predictions you have for future chapters. You know how much I love to see what you guys have to say. Until next chapter, toodles! :D**


	20. Chapter 20: Salty Blonde

Hello beautiful people! Ta da, I'm back with another chapter! This is the part where I give shout-outs to all of you (and there were a lot) in the reviews who did a certain April Fools prank that will appear in this post...it will be _pretty_ obvious later in this chapter. Enjoy this update! :3

* * *

 **Chapter 20**

* * *

Marinette and Alya sat side by side as always at their booth seat in their homeroom classroom whilst students continued to file in. The bluenette was relatively early to school today, which meant she made it before the bell rang, thanks to Tikki for getting her up and around in her sleep-deprived state.

Now, she was busying herself with her sketchbook and working on some new design ideas for possible Halloween costumes, after all, October was only about a month away. Though, perhaps she could just wear her Chat Noir suit again. Granted, she would have to make new ears and a mask.

As Marinette focused intently on her drawing, Alya was trying to contain her squeals and laughter. The brunette in glasses was watching a video she posted on the Ladyblog about the dance last night, more specifically, Ladybug and Chat Noir's slow dance. According to her, Alya got someone else to document the disastrous lift and then fall while she was... _preoccupied_.

"Marinette," the blogger giggled, "You _have_ to watch this…it starts out so romantic, then WHAM!" Alya forced her phone in front of her best friend's bluebell eyes, interrupting her creative flow.

"Alya…" Marinette complained, "I already told you I don't need to see it."

The blue-haired girl's efforts rendered useless against her best friend, as Alya had already pressed the 'play' icon and started the video clip. Marinette cringed as she watched herself leap into her partner's arms and get hoisted above his head. Then, she observed how the blond's footing was off and he had begun to shuffle his feet, causing the pair to go crashing down to the gym floors. She knew it was his doing and not her clumsiness, for once, that caused her shoulder to hurt like hellfire. Speaking of her shoulder, she never got to apply arnica oil to it, meaning it was probably all black and blue under her gray jacket.

"Ooh…she definitely felt that in the morning," Alya commented.

 _Oh yeah, I felt it,_ Marinette thought, _And I still feel it._

The blue-head dared to touch her hand to her left shoulder and winced at the immediate pain that followed her action. She made a mental note to put some of that oil on her wound after school...or ask Master Fu if he knew of any other remedies with the same results.

The brunette looked up to her cringing bluenette friend, "Girl, I can't believe I missed this in person! Had I known _that_ would happen, I would have gladly skipped out on 'closet time' with Nino."

"Hey!" the DJ chimed in as he and Adrien entered through the door. The brunet only caught the aspiring journalist's last few words, but instantly felt called out.

"Sorry, Nino, but the bug and cat team come before hanky panky," the brunette dryly retorted. Nino folded his arms and took his seat in front of his…well, would they be boyfriend and girlfriend now? It was too early to tell. After all, they had made out but didn't act super 'romantic' with each other, just constant playful banter.

Adrien stole a glance at Marinette as he rounded the front desk to his seat next to the DJ and his cheeks burned red when she caught sight of his staring eyes. The bluenette took a pink hue to her face, but blushed nowhere near as deep a shade of crimson as the blond.

He recalled last night's events as Chat Noir when he visited Marinette and wanted to bash his own head in at his careless advance on her; make that _advances_. His sweet, shy, beautiful classmate—wait…he can't be thinking about her like that…not again. Even if Ladybug turned down his feelings towards her, she still held his heart; he loved his lady, not his princess. Heck, Adrien even imagined kissing Ladybug when he was kissing the blue-haired girl. But maybe that's because Marinette reminded him so much of Ladybug to the point where he couldn't help but feel drawn to her and her sky-blue eyes and midnight hair and tender smile and-

"H-Hi, Adrien," Marinette stuttered as her porcelain face glowed pinker, "I-I-Is your nose b-better?" The model whipped his head around like someone had just cried 'Bloody Mary' and his emerald eyes locked with Marinette's bluebell orbs.

"Huh? Oh... _oh_! Y-Yeah," he stammered in response before swallowing hard, "It doesn't hurt anymore, but I haven't really looked at it…doesn't seem that swollen now, though. And thanks again for fixing my shirt, by the way."

Marinette felt the heat starting to radiate off her freckled cheeks and sweat roll down her neck as Adrien smiled warmly at her. "It's a problem—I mean, problem it's not—I mean, you're welcome!"

"Hi, Adrikins!" a wretched voice squawked, "I never saw you at the dance last night!"

Chloe popped up out of nowhere and enveloped the poor blond in a tight hug that he attempted to hide his disinterest at. She went to plant a kiss on his cheek, but he dodged the attack and scooted away from her. The bottle blonde girl pouted at Adrien before crossing her arms and jutting one hip out to the side. All Marinette could do was roll her eyes at Chloe's annoying flirtation towards Adrien and felt pity for the blond. Mostly in part because she understood what it was like to receive unwanted 'romantic' flirting from someone.

"I was with my date, _Marinette_ , remember?" he voiced, "We talked about that yesterday."

The bluenette's cheeks flushed into a deeper red when Adrien referred to her as 'his date'. It made her legs feel like jelly and her heart melt at the sincerity in his smooth, buttercream voice, too.

"Hmph," Chloe huffed and turned on her heel to storm off to her seat, but not before purposefully knocking over Marinette's sketchbook. "Oops, I guess Marinette's clumsiness is contagious! Better quarantine her before she infects us all!" The blonde snickered and marched down the steps to meet Sabrina at her seat.

The drawing pad fell to the floor and bounced several times down the stairs, causing the pages to go flying in all directions. The blue-haired girl growled quietly to herself as she knelt down and began gathering her papers. Some pages displayed fashion designs, some were doodles, and some were random notes or reminders scribbled down.

One page in particular landed at Adrien's feet, yet he didn't notice the paper that had floated down and touched his shoes, for he focused his attention on Marinette. However, someone _did_ catch sight of the drawing at the blond's feet, and that someone was Plagg. The cat creature had stuck his head out of Adrien's bag to see the mayhem Chloe had caused yet again. He always found it entertaining to watch while he ate his beloved camembert.

The black kwami's viridescent eyes grew wide as they scanned the drawing of himself that rested at the oblivious model's feet. Luckily for him, Adrien moved to help the distraught bluenette collect her papers and shove them back into her sketchbook. Plagg used that timeslot to zip out of hiding and retrieve the sketch of himself.

He smugly grinned like the Cheshire cat at the 'portrait' of himself and figured Tikki drew it, so he folded up the sheet of paper and retreated back to Adrien's shoulder bag.

"Th-Thanks," Marinette squeaked as Adrien handed her the last of her sketches. The two picked themselves up off the floor and shuffled back to their seats in time for Miss Bustier to waltz through the door.

Unfortunately for them, just as the bell rang to begin classes, a loud crash sounded from outside the school.

 _Oh, come on!_ both the young model and aspiring designer thought in unison. Master Fu must have made the right call that Hawkmoth was planning something horrible since this was the fourth akumatized person over the course of four days.

"Miss," Marinette popped out of her seat, waving a frantic hand above her head, "May I go to the restroom, please?"

"Me too, Miss!" Adrien leapt from his seat as well, waving an equally fraught hand in the air.

* * *

"Pound it!" the superhero duo called out as they bumped their fists together. The akumatized schoolgirl was left on her hands and knees in utter confusion a few paces behind the bug and feline heroes who were celebrating yet another victory.

Chat Noir felt overall less uncomfortable around his lady, even knowing she didn't love him back as more than a friend and partner, the atmosphere between the two held less tension compared to last night at the dance. The beeping of their miraculous signaled to them that it was time to take off before they caught a glimpse of each other without their masks. While Chat was quite alright with that outcome, Ladybug was still greatly opposed to them unearthing one another's identities.

"Oh, Chat Noir, before you go," Ladybug piped up, grabbing a hold of her partner's black-clad wrist as he pivoted to dash away, "I need to inform you about something."

She pulled out her yo-yo and parted it open to reveal a screen and touchpad. The bluenette typed in something and pressed a button before sliding it closed and retying it around her waist. The cat-boy received an alert on his baton and flicked it open to see an address that his lady had just sent him. He met her eyes with a puzzled look plastered on his face and dancing in his own peridot eyes then stared back down at his staff's screen once more.

"Go to this address at 3:30 today—transformed, of course," Ladybug added before she turned to run off in the opposite direction.

"Why-" Chat started to inquire before the spotted heroine cut him off.

"Just meet me there, okay?" she interjected, silencing her partner and earning a nod from him before they split up to drop their transformations.

* * *

In the chemistry lab, Marinette sat impatiently waiting for her school day to end so she could meet Chat Noir at Master Fu's studio. According to the elderly man, the black-clad hero had never been before, so he instructed the bluenette to pass on his address to the blond. Master Fu had contacted her in the wee hours of the morning—which was partially why she'd awoken so early—and told her to meet at his space after school. He didn't say why, but Marinette assumed it had to do with the hunch the Great Guardian had about what Hawkmoth was scheming.

She found it hard to focus on her in-class textbook reading, where she read a section of the book, then answered written questions in her notebook; it had to be the most boring thing on Earth. Not to mention, Adrien and Chat Noir were flooding her brain, leaving no room for chemical formulas to reside.

Antsy in wanting to just be out of that room so she could talk with the Great Guardian, Marinette lifted her head and let her eyes wander around the lab. Her bluebell eyes landed on Chloe and Sabrina's empty seats…they were taking their sweet time in the bathroom…

However, Marinette's, and pretty much the entire class', attention was turned towards a young male, who looked to be in his twenties, at the door. He was carrying a tray with a to-go coffee cup and wore a back apron that had a latte stitched on the front.

"Coffee order for a Miss Chloe Bourgeois," the young man announced, capturing everyone's attention this time.

"She had coffee delivered to the school?" Marinette whispered to Alya, "How much more 'Chloe' can she get?" Alya simply shrugged in response before returning her focus to the delivery boy.

"I'm sorry, Chloe is in the restroom at the moment, but you could leave it-" Ms. Mendeleive was cut off when Marinette jumped to her feet and raised her hand in the air.

"I'll make sure she gets it!" the blue-haired girl piped up a little bit too enthusiastically. The brunette sitting next to her mouthed the words in confusion 'what are you doing' but Marinette simply smirked at the blogger.

"Oh, that'd be great," the barista sighed in content as he walked the coffee up to the blue-haired girl and left without another word.

Once the young man had exited the classroom and the remainder of students returned to their work, Alya turned to Marinette and whispered, "What was that about?"

"Do you still have that salt and pepper packet thing in your backpack?" Marinette asked her brunette friend. She earned a puzzled expression that contorted the blogger's facial features as the blue-haired girl continued to snicker to herself.

"Uh…yeah…" Alya retorted, reaching into her bag and pulling out a plastic bag containing an opened, half-packet of salt and an opened, almost-empty packet of pepper. "Why do you want the left-over stuff from my chem project?"

Marinette left her friend without an answer, as she swiped the salt packet from the brunette's hand. She unfolded the paper pouch and popped the lid off of Chloe's beverage before dumping every last grain of salt into the cup. As quickly as she removed it, Marinette replaced the lid on the coffee cup and crumpled up the now-empty salt packet, shoving it in her pocket.

"Okay, seriously, I didn't take you as the 'revenge' type," Alya snorted whilst shoving the plastic bag in her backpack again, "I like this side of you, Marinette…but salt in her coffee? That's kind of juvenile compared to the stunts she pulls on us all the time."

"Well," the bluenette began, recognizing the girl in glasses' point, "Chloe _is_ salty."

* * *

 **Pfft...it's about time Mari gets Chloe back...especially after the stunt that bottle blonde pulled with her sketchbook that will be** ** _important to the plot_** **. Well, next chapter will be one that I've been waiting to write for soooo long (it will be extra long, too).**

 **You should know what I'll say next...if you don't, then you must not read my author's note...but please leave a review about what you like, what you don't like, what you want to see happen, and any predictions you may have for future chapters. I love to read what you lovelies have to say! Until next chapter, toodles! :D**


	21. Chapter 21: Nothing Personal

Hello beautiful people! Did someone say 'extra long chapter'? I have been _dying_ to write/post this one for a long time! I had it in the works since Chapter 10, I think... Anyway, about Marinette's revenge prank on Chloe, I'll let you imagine what happened after that witch took a sip ;) Prepare yourselves, my children, for an extra long chapter of LadyNoir, enjoy! :3

* * *

 **Chapter 21**

* * *

Ladybug sat perched on a tree branch outside a window of Master Fu's workspace. She made sure that she wasn't seen by anyone else, but was still able to see into the studio. From the looks of it, the elderly Chinese man was talking with a blonde woman in a blue dress who seemed distraught and he had been trying to calm her down. The spotted heroine began to feel pity for the blonde woman, seeing as she appeared to be on the verge of tears. However, the bluenette knew Master Fu was the right person to go to since the woman was feeling upset.

Ladybug watched as the blonde woman with warm, green eyes exited through the door and took that as her cue to enter Master Fu's workspace. With a graceful leap, she flew in through the open window, careful not to hit the flower bed on her way in.

She performed a tuck and roll landing when she touched down on the matted floors. Ladybug had to admit she was shocked that Master Fu appeared genuinely unfazed by her entry, but she should've known that out-of-nowhere 'superhero landings' wouldn't surprise him for obvious reasons.

"Ah, Ladybug," the old man softly spoke, shuffling over to the blue-haired girl, "You are a few minutes early, but no matter…wait here while I retrieve the book."

Ladybug nodded her head and watched as the vertically-challenged man doddered out of the room and disappeared behind a screen. She assumed the paper covering acted as the overlay to a secret entrance because he seemingly exited into another room.

The red-clad girl allowed her eyes to wander over to the gramophone, the one Master Fu kept the other miraculous in. To her knowledge, he has the turtle, bee, and fox miraculous; when she asked about the peacock one day, the old man immediately changed the subject. Of course, Hawkmoth somehow attained the butterfly miraculous. Other than those, the bluenette had no knowledge of the other miraculous that were hidden within the secret compartments of the gramophone.

Ladybug was so lost in her wandering thoughts that she jumped when a hand barely touched her arm. Upon reflex, the spotted heroine grabbed the person's hand, spun around, and locked them in an arm bar.

"Hey there, M'Lady," Chat Noir purred from under Ladybug's arm lock, "I see I got the right address."

The blue-haired girl's eyes grew wide, quick to release her partner from the painful hold and watched as he rose to his feet, brushing himself off. "Sorry…force of habit," she voiced, embarrassed.

"At least you have-"

"Don't…" she warned him.

"-cat-like reflexes," the blond finished with a satisfactory grin.

As Ladybug was busy rolling her eyes at the feline hero's comment, Master Fu returned from the depths behind his paper screen, flipping meticulously through the pages of the book. Chat Noir twitched his ears and stared blankly at the elderly man with a sense of familiarity.

"Chat Noir," Master Fu began, looking up and inching his way closer to the blond, "I am glad you could make it. I see you and Ladybug have already conversed…good. Now, we can-"

"I'm sorry, but who are you?" the cat-boy piped up, cutting off the Great Guardian.

Ladybug widened her bluebell eyes at him with shock—and maybe some frustration—so she folded her arms, and moved to stand next to Master Fu with a playful smirk tugging at her lips. Chat searched his memory for who this mysterious man in a Hawaiian shirt was, and how Ladybug appeared to know him…so how didn't he?

"Hm…your girlfriend, here, has not informed you of me?" the Chinese man hummed, stroking his beard, causing the red-clad heroine to fluster.

"I am _not_ his girlfriend!" Ladybug countered, wildly pointing an accusatory finger at her partner.

"Oh, but you _can_ be, M'Lady," Chat Noir wiggled his eyebrows and struck a pose…but something clicked in his mind about what that man just said. What he suggested about Ladybug being his girlfriend…where did he hear that before?

 _The closet!_ Chat internally screamed, _It's the same guy who rescued Marinette and me from the art closet last night…that's right, he mistook Marinette for my girlfriend as well. What was his name again? Oh, yeah, Mr. Fu._

"Um," the bluenette spoke up again in slight confusion to put an end to Chat's flirting before placing her hands on her hips, "Do you honestly not know who Master Fu is?"

"Wait, _Master_?" the black-clad hero questioned.

He swore that the old man said his name was _Mr_. Fu…where did 'Master' come from? While Chat Noir met him last night after freeing Marinette and himself from being trapped in the closet, he didn't actually know who he was. He shook his head 'no' sheepishly in response to his lady's agitation.

"He's the one who gave us our miraculous," she retorted with a smile, "He's the Great Guardian and protector of the other miraculous, too. Didn't your kwami tell you?"

"Uh…no, my kwami isn't that great in the 'helpfulness department'," Chat sighed, evoking a chuckle from Master Fu. Then, the cat-boy's eyes trailed over to a cane resting against the back wall. He recognized that cane…come to think of it, he knew why this man looked so familiar last night. "You…" he voiced quietly, turning to the elderly man, "You were the man I helped with the cane a year ago."

Master Fu said nothing, but hummed and nodded whilst smiling kindly at the blond, his big, brown eyes holding a warmth to them that made Chat feel calm and happy. The feline hero let his eyes wander to the book the Great Guardian held delicately in his hands. He studied the cover intently until he realized what he was looking at.

 _My father's book_ , he thought, _That's where it went…but how did Master Fu get it? Did he swipe it from me when I wasn't looking and didn't notice?_

"Do you recognize this book, Chat Noir?" the old man inquired, dragging the blond out of his thoughts. With a knowing smile stretching from the corners of his mouth, he walked the book over to the table along the back wall, setting it down before pivoting around to face the duo again.

"Um, n-no, sir," the blond fibbed, "I just, um…nothing." _Yes, I recognize my father's book of heroes. How did_ you _get it? How did you know that I recognized it in the first place?_ Chat Noir pondered.

"Very well," Master Fu nodded, "I told Ladybug yesterday that I feel Hawkmoth is planning something of great evil—evil that the both of you have yet to face. So, I spoke with Wayzz and decided I would train you to better fight against Hawkmoth and his villainy."

"But Master Fu," Ladybug stubbornly interjected, "We already know how fight akumatized villains. What's the point in undergoing training?"

"Both of your miraculous give you the power to enhance your attacks and defenses, Ladybug," the old, Chinese man calmly stated, "Think of it as baking: just because you can put icing on a cake, does not mean you are doing so properly and thus, not achieving the best outcome. I am merely going to teach you how to properly ice a cake."

Ladybug sighed and was tempted to roll her eyes at the metaphor, imagining how well Master Fu and Tikki would get along with their wise words. And it _had_ to be a baking-related one, too…he couldn't be more obvious about her secret identity. The spotted heroine opened her mouth to ask the Great Guardian something, but her voice and words failed to fill the silence. Instead it was one confused kitty.

"Wait," Chat Noir proclaimed, drawing both of their attention to himself, "Who's Wayzz?"

* * *

"Now, then," Master Fu broke the silence, "Up until now, you have been doing fine on your own, but it is time that you learn proper hand-to-hand combat…especially since you may be coming face to face with Hawkmoth. So, I must train you to fight with better form and improved skill."

The old man paced back and forth before the superheroes with his hands behind his back as he spoke. He resembled a drill sergeant in the way he stiffly moved in front of the crime-fighting duo. They had helped Master Fu clear the mat in his studio to create an open space for training purposes.

Ladybug and Chat Noir stood front and center, feet shoulder-length apart—a few feet away from each other—and arms at their sides in attention. The elderly man held out his hand to the bluenette, palm up, and kept his other hand behind his back.

"Your yo-yo," he implied.

Without hesitation, Ladybug unhooked her red and black-spotted yo-yo from around her waist and dropped it in the Great Guardian's open hand.

"But, how will we fight without our weapons?" she asked, earning a soft chuckle from Master Fu.

"That, Ladybug, is where you are wrong," he began, "Your body is the weapon. This," Master Fu held up the ladybug-print yo-yo for both she and Chat Noir to see, "This is merely a tool that aids you in the face of battle."

The blond couldn't help but snicker at what just unfolded before him. He knew how much his lady _hated_ being wrong, especially being called out on it, and her face was subtly emitting her frustration at being told so by the old man.

"That goes for you, too, Chat Noir," Master Fu voiced, silencing Chat's giggles as he outstretched his hand to the feline hero, "Hand it over."

"But I—hmph," he pouted, feeling like a child getting his toy taken away for misbehaving. Chat Noir reached behind his back to retrieve his silver baton, detached it from above his belt, then tossed it to the Great Guardian.

Swiftly, the elder Chinese man caught the stick rather easily while it was in mid-air, as opposed to the black-clad hero's thoughts that it would fall to the floor. Master Fu turned away from the pair to set their miraculous 'tools' on the table by the gramophone.

Ladybug leaned closer in Chat's direction and, still looking straight ahead, whispered in a sing-song voice, " _Busted_." Chat Noir immediately whipped his head around to face his spotted partner, only to see she moved back to standing straight at attention.

" _Hey_!" he whisper-grumbled back at her, squinting his cat-like eyes in her direction.

Alas, he couldn't stay upset at Ladybug—kind, smart, beautiful, _sophomoric_ Ladybug—for long. If anything, he found her juvenile behavior just then part of her irresistible charm that he fell in love with one year prior.

"Sometimes I forget that you are still teenagers… _childish_ teenagers," Master Fu muttered as he pinched his thumb and forefinger at the bridge of his nose and shook his head with a chuckle. He spun around to face the two high school juniors, "However, you are still the chosen protectors of Paris. Now, face each other and move into fighting stances."

Ladybug was quick to turn on her heel, face her partner, bring her right foot back, and put her fists up by her face. Chat Noir, on the other hand, was less eager and more hesitant to copy his lady. After receiving a cocked eyebrow from her, though, he complied and matched her stance.

"Ladybug," Master Fu announced, walking up to the blue-haired heroine, "Your left, front hand is too close to your face. If someone were to throw a punch at you, or any attack," he brought his hand up to hers and slowly pushed her balled fist to her face, stopping when her gloved hand lightly touched into her mouth and nose. "That would most certainly not do you any good in blocking. Bring your fist forward more. And your right hand, bring it closer to your cheek, like this," he guided her hands to correctly block her face whilst demonstrating, himself, how her arms and hands should look in a protective, fighting stance.

"From here, you can throw a punch or block an attack then quickly bring it back to this stance. And as for your shoulders," Master Fu continued, "There should be in a straight line with your left shoulder forward and your right shoulder back. Align your head with your shoulders and look straight ahead. You want to shield off your vital striking points from your opponents."

Satisfied with the changes Ladybug made to her form, he stepped away and shuffled over to Chat Noir. The blond had made the same adjustments to his stance that Master Fu corrected Ladybug on while he spoke with her.

"Chat Noir," the elderly man spoke up, his amber-brown eyes meeting the feline hero's green, cat ones, "Your elbows are sticking out, exposing your sides. An attacker can easily strike there, like this," Master Fu jabbed the blond cat-boy with a finger punch between his ribs. While it was light, the contact was enough to make him jump back and rub his side—even with his transformation.

"Ow!" he howled, "What was that for?"

"Elbows in!" the old man sternly instructed. Chat Noir's emerald eyes grew wide and alert as he leapt back into his fighting stance and brought his elbows in by his sides. "Your opponents will not go as easy on you, so have your sides blocked. A hero with a broken rib cannot protect his city as well as one without."

Ladybug tried to hide her absolute hardest to keep from giggling at her partner as she adjusted her elbows like Chat Noir, thankful Master Fu hadn't performed that example on her.

"As for your footing," the Great Guardian continued, "You are putting too much weight on your front, left foot." Master Fu sprang into action and swiped his leg across and under Chat Noir's left foot, which sent the black-clad hero crashing down to the mat with a yelp.

The blue-haired superheroine didn't even bother stifling her laughter this time, thankful once again that Master Fu hadn't done so to her being that she had the same problem with her footing. Maybe it was because she was a girl and Chat was a boy…sexist or not, Ladybug was glad she wasn't the one getting her spots handed to her by someone almost two centuries old. Come to think of it, though, her partner's wonky footing could be the reason why he dropped her from above his head at the dance the previous night.

"Ow… _again_ …" the blond mumbled, sprawled out on the floor.

He had to admit he was slightly embarrassed that an old geezer was making him look like a weak kitten in front of his lady. Even though he and Ladybug faced countless akumatized victims where Chat would get thrown around, getting thrown around by Master Fu was far more mortifying. Ladybug's chuckles didn't help boost his confidence in the situation, either; but her laugh rang throughout his body, making him feel all warm and fuzzy.

"Up, up," the old man warmly chided, getting Chat Noir to scramble to his feet and return to his form. "Put \ 90% of your weight on your back, right foot…only 10% on your front. And your front foot should not be flat—your heel must be off the ground so that only the ball of your foot and toes touch the floor."

Master Fu demonstrated with his foot, looking like he was wearing an invisible high heel on his front left foot, but his back, right one remained flat. Ladybug and Chat Noir mimicked the old man and looked up at one another, locking their eyes.

"Yes! We are making progress!" the Chinese man cheered, stroking his beard. "I would prefer you demonstrate your fighting skills while not transformed to see where your strengths and weaknesses truly lie without your enhanced abilities, but I will respect Ladybug's request of keeping your identities a secret. It would serve useful to improve your combat while not relying on your miraculous, but no matter. Now, let me see your hand-to-hand combat so I can study up close where you stand."

"Hold up," Chat interrupted, raising his hands up, "You want us to fight each other?"

"Not fight, _spar_ ," the old man corrected as he stepped back and stood by the table where the yo-yo and staff rested alongside the ancient book, "I would say light-contact sparring, but since you are transformed, you will be fine."

"I wouldn't say that…LB, here, can really pack a punch-"

"Begin," Master Fu interjected with a wave of his hand, signaling for the match to commence.

"Wait! I'm not-" _SMACK!_ Chat Noir barely had time to think before Ladybug charged at him with a jump front kick. He stumbled back a few steps and shook off his shock to register what had just happened. "I-I can't hit a girl!" he cried.

"So, I'm guessing that didn't apply to the countless _female_ akumatized victims you fought?" Ladybug breathily smirked, stopping in her tracks.

"That's different—you're my…partner," he shrugged, slouching his shoulders.

"This is _training_. It's nothing personal, Kitty," she winked one of her bluebell eyes at the blond, causing his heartbeat to pick up speed. He blinked at the red-clad girl, his face blank, before emerging from his trance. A crooked grin appeared at his face and a light-hearted chuckle spilled from his lips.

"Nothing personal, Bugaboo," he winked as he moved back into his corrected fighting stance.

"Begin," Master Fu repeated once more.

Ladybug leapt towards her partner, relishing in the glimpse of panic she caught in his emerald eyes, and threw a series of punches at the blond. While Chat Noir kept dodging and avoiding his lady, he felt himself nearing the corner of the room.

"You need to block," the old man called out, "Combat is not just attack, it is also defense. If you feel trapped, switch off…get out of there."

Hearing these words, Chat Noir tuck and rolled past Ladybug, momentarily surprising the spotted superheroine. The bluenette speedily turned around, but was met with a roundhouse kick from the blond that she blocked in time before he hit her shoulder.

"Roundhouse kicks aim for the mouth and jaw, not the shoulder," Master Fu commented, "Hit them up where they smile."

Staying relatively in one spot of the mat, Ladybug and Chat Noir continued to spar; they would exchange in turns of punch-kick-block combinations while the Great Guardian intently observed the super duo. The two found that combat was much easier and more effective given the new techniques they were shown.

Master Fu made a mental note that they were limiting themselves to the one corner of the mat, so he piped up, "Take advantage of all of the space you have…move around more."

Their match continued for almost thirty minutes, with the protectors of Paris sparring with each other and Master Fu shouting out pointers as they sparred. Eventually, Chat Noir grew tired and found it became difficult to power-house through the training exercise with Ladybug. As his attacks weakened as well as his blocks, the spotted heroine took this as her golden window of opportunity to end the match.

The bluenette swiftly flipped him over her good shoulder and onto his back, causing him go crashing down on the mat. Chat Noir hadn't realized it at the time, but he gripped onto his partner's wrist and pulled her down with him. For the second time in less than twenty-four hours, Ladybug propped herself up on all fours overtop of the blond who laid beneath her with a blush creeping up his face.

Ladybug groaned and rolled her bluebell orbs at her black-clad partner as she picked herself up off of him and bounced to her feet. It took Chat a moment to register the fact that he had just been closely face to face with his lady _again_ , and that she had him pinned to the floor… _again_!

Master Fu watched from a distance as the pair scrambled to get back to their feet in attention stances before him. He grinned smugly at the duo as he playfully picked up the yo-yo and baton from the table next to him. The Great Guardian shuffled back to Ladybug and Chat Noir with his hands behind his back. Silence rang throughout the studio while the high schoolers awaited Master Fu's next instruction.

"Match goes to Ladybug," he proclaimed calmly, tossing the yo-yo to the blue-haired heroine. After she caught her miraculous 'tool', she tied the string around her waist securely.

"Wait, how can you tell?" Chat Noir asked, curious how the elderly man figured Ladybug was the winner.

"Simple," the Chinese man began, "Ladybug cornered you several times, her offense and defense were equally impressive and balanced, though she still needs to improve her form while fighting. She knocked you to the mat and, might I add, pinned you there." The feline hero's cheeks flushed a brilliant hue of red as he sheepishly looked at his boots. The blond lifted his head and stole a glance at his lady—who was walking over to the table where Master left the book of miraculous heroes—before his focus turned to Master Fu, "You can have this back, now," he warmly spoke, handing Chat Noir the silver staff so he could reattach it to above his belt.

Ladybug flipped through the pages of the ancient book, searching for any clues about Hawkmoth's so-called plan; after all, he and the butterfly miraculous were on one of the pages. Chat Noir continued to study his lady…and the tome she firmly grasped. That was it, he needed to ask about his father's book as well as why and how Master Fu got a hold of it.

"It is late and superheroes need their sleep. Go home, the two of you, and rest up," Master Fu said, breaking the silence and interrupting Chat's wandering thoughts, "We shall meet here again at the same time tomorrow."

The black-clad hero paused, thinking back to his schedule and if he had anything planned on a Saturday at 3:30 in the afternoon…he very well could have a piano lesson or photoshoot he forgot about. "What if we can't come due to… _prior commitments_?" he gulped.

"I hope you realize, Chat Noir, that the safety of this city is more important than any other activity previously planned," Master Fu responded, understanding what the cat-boy meant, "I _will_ see you here tomorrow at 3:30 and that is final."

Ladybug set the book down next to the gramophone and nodded her head along with her partner. The red-clad heroine was going to go see a movie with Alya, but she could just reschedule—whatever means necessary for protecting Paris came first.

"Very well," the Great Guardian smiled, "Goodnight."

The bluenette's eyes widened in addition to her partner's. _Did he say night? As in, it's nighttime?_ Ladybug mentally panicked as she looked out the window to see an inky, blue-black sky dusted with stars, _How long have we been here? It was just 3:30…now it's almost…9:15!_

"I have to go! I didn't know it got this late!" the spotted heroine exclaimed frantically as she unhooked her yo-yo and prepared to swing out the window, "Goodnight, Master Fu!"

"Me too! I'm right behind you, M'Lady," Chat Noir added as Ladybug flung herself out of the window and into the night. The blond reached behind his back for his staff and extended it to pole-vault after the girl of his dreams.

"Those two are made for each other," Master Fu sighed in content.

* * *

Ladybug and Chat Noir sat with their legs dangling from the top of a building a few blocks away from the Dupain-Cheng Bakery. After he caught up with her, the feline hero convinced her to stay and talk for a few minutes before calling it a night. However, what he really wanted to talk about was the book of miraculous heroes.

"If this is about last night," Ladybug began, her voice shaking, "I'm sorry…it wasn't my intention to hurt your feelings, but the truth beam…it…"

"It's fine, M'Lady," Chat warmly replied, brushing away her concern, "Just because you don't return my feelings in the way I'd hoped, doesn't mean I'll stop loving you. Besides, that's not what I wanted to talk about."

The spotted heroine leaned back on the palms of her hands and gazed up at the stars twinkling from above. "Okay, shoot," she encouraged, tilting her head to the side to look at her partner.

God, she looked so beautiful in the moonlight…and the way her bluebell eyes lit up with that spark of warmth and kindness. He knew he was getting distracted, but once again, got lost at sea in his lady's ocean eyes, the depths of the crystal blue that flowed within her orbs pulled him into a hypnotic trance. The blond shook his head free of the spell she cast on him as he remembered why he wanted to talk: the book.

"Um…that book…how did you get it?" Chat Noir questioned, looking away from Ladybug and her enticing gaze.

"I brought it to Master Fu," the bug-heroine answered plainly, "This boy at my school had it and my kwami said it was imperative we get it to the Great Guardian. Actually, it was more difficult than I expected because this other girl was flirting with him and she swiped the book from him. Then she saw that there was a fox superhero and based her lie of being a miraculous wielder off of that. You know the rest about how she was akumatized by Hawkmoth and became 'Volpina'."

"Wait, wait, wait!" Chat Noir spoke up, waving his clawed hands frantically and shaking his head, " _Lila_ stole the book?"

"Yeah," Ladybug nodded and shrugged, "When she threw it in the trash, I retrieved it…but then when she started telling the boy those lies about me again, I swooped in and…and told her off, but…then she was akumatized because of me."

 _That was what must have happened in the park that day_ , the blond pondered, _And then I got upset at Ladybug for yelling at Lila…oh, God, she must hate me as my civilian self for doing that! I officially have no chance with her._

"Well," the bluenette piped up, drawing Chat Noir back out of his thoughts, "I need to get going for real this time…see you tomorrow. Bug out!" Ladybug hurled her yo-yo off into the distance and swung off into the night as she made her way back to her house.

* * *

Ladybug landed gracefully on her balcony and slipped in through the trap door above her bed. She decided to drop her transformation once she planted her feet on the floor next to her mattress and her kwami popped out of her earrings. Tikki floated over to the bed, collapsing in a heap of exhaustion and hunger after holding that transformation for all those hours.

Marinette let out a sigh, beginning to feel her body ache all over. Master Fu worked them harder than most of Hawkmoth's villains have…now she was bound to be sore in every muscle tomorrow.

"Tikki," the blue-haired girl whined, "I'm pooped…has Master Fu always been that-" Marinette paused mid-sentence when she heard a creaking noise coming from below her loft bed, so she motioned for the bug-like creature to hide as she peeped her head over the edge.

At first she saw nothing except the darkness of her room, but then she discerned a switch being flipped and her room was suddenly engulfed in light.

"M-Marinette…you… _you're_ Ladybug?"

* * *

 **Mwahaha...cliffhanger.**

 **In case anyone was wondering, I based Master Fu off of my karate instructor by having him say pretty much everything combat-related that my instructor says (about what a weapon is, stance corrections, pointers while sparring, etc.) That, and my instructor tends to go rougher on the guys and not the girls when demonstrating techniques and such, as you read with Chat Noir. He's basically a 75-year-old badass ;)**

 **Feel free to guess in the reviews who found out that Marinette is Ladybug...and while you're at it, tell me what you like, what you dislike, what you want to see happen, and any predictions you have for future chapters. I love reading what you lovelies have to say!**

 **Until next chapter, toodles! :D**


	22. Chapter 22: Obvious and Oblivious

Hello beautiful people! Over 200 of you lovelies reviewed my first fanfic? I think I might cry...but not today because: _mwahaha_ I'm back to end your suffering that the cliffhanger left you with. May I say, you guys are some good guessers. Here you go, darlings...Chapter 22—enjoy! :3

* * *

 **Chapter 22**

* * *

"Hey, kid, what was that back there?" Plagg interrogated his chosen as soon as the blond plopped down on his white sofa. Adrien sighed and slouched back into the sterile-looking couch, ignoring his imperfect posture as he gazed dreamily out the window.

"I wanted to find out how Ladybug and Master Fu got my father's book, what's wrong with that?" Adrien asked, turning to face the black kwami floating mere inches before him.

The model shrugged as he looked back out into the endless night sky, but everything he looked at reminded him of Ladybug. The sky itself was like her dark hair, the stars were like the twinkle in her bluebell eyes, and the moon was like her beautiful, glowing face.

"No, not that," Plagg scoffed with a wave of his paw, "I mean back when you and your 'lady love' were sparring." The blond shot the cat-like creature a look of confusion, causing the petite, black kwami to groan and roll his cat eyes. "Come _on_ , I know you can fight better than that… _I'm_ your kwami, after all. Master Fu needs to see you at your best to know where you need actual improvement."

"I-I don't know what you're talking about," Adrien shrugged but glanced away guiltily out his prison-like window.

"Wait, don't tell me you let Ladybug win-"

"No! No, no…I just didn't go as hard on her," the blond interrupted, "Okay, I went easy on her, yeah, but that's just because I didn't wanna end up accidentally hurting her." Adrien wrapped his arms around his knees as he curled himself up on the white cushions before he dared to meet the viridescent eyes of his kwami. "Besides, Master Fu said she was already pretty good with her combat skills…"

"But that's building false confidence," Plagg interjected, "Ladybug thought she actually beat you, thus increasing her confidence even more on the battle field; only that confidence was falsely acquired since you didn't present yourself as great as a challenge as I know you to be, kid. Tomorrow, I want you to show Ladybug and Master Fu you mean business. This is serious stuff happening, here, Adrien—don't get your priorities mixed up."

"But, I can't go full-out 'Chat Noir' on my lady," Adrien whined in response. The last thing he'd ever want was to hurt Ladybug in any way, shape, or form.

"What happened to 'nothing personal, bugaboo'?" the black cat creature countered, imitating Adrien from earlier.

"Since when are you so serious and passionate about anything other than stinky camembert cheese?" Adrien muttered into his knees as he huffed.

"Just promise me you'll try harder tomorrow…I would hate to see something bad happen with Hawkmoth because you guys weren't properly prepared," Plagg sighed as he made himself comfortable in his chosen's golden-blond locks and drifted off to sleep.

* * *

"M-Marinette…you…you're Ladybug?"

Marinette couldn't believe her what her ears just heard…how could she be so careless? She knew she should've detransformed on her balcony before entering her room. Heck, she should've at least checked to make sure no one was in her room before just absentmindedly dropping her transformation. Now someone knew that Marinette was Ladybug, which put them in great danger and at great risk of being targeted by Hawkmoth.

It took a moment or two for the bluenette's eyes to adjust to the sudden presence of light, but her bluebell orbs grew panicked and fearful when she took in the sight of dark hair and skin coupled with the glint of glasses reflecting the light.

"Girl…"

"A-Alya! H-How did you get in my room? What did you see—of course you saw just enough…but what are you doing here?" Marinette stammered as she rushed down the stairs from the loft and approached her best friend.

"Your mom let me up…I s-saw Ladybug and Chat Noir while I-I was walking home from the library—I was working on that book report that Miss Bustier assigned—so I turned around and booked it to your place to tell you. Your mom said you were probably up here, so…well, you know the rest," the brunette breathed, looking over Marinette meticulously and paying close attention to the details of the blue-haired girl's face.

"You can't tell _anyone_ , Alya, promise me you won't tell a soul!" Marinette jittered as she slammed her delicate hands down on the blogger's shoulders, pleading to her with her eyes as a continuation of her despair. Alya's facial expression softened and emitted warmth from her hazel eyes as she giggled, which in turn lead Marinette to grow bewildered.

"You have my word, M, but…I can't believe I never noticed…all this time Ladybug was right next to me… _literally_!" the brunette cheered as she whipped out her phone and pulled up a picture of Ladybug from her blog.

"Are you…um…mad?" Marinette squeaked and braced herself for a tidal wave of angry words to be aimed at her.

"Mad? Are you kidding? Girl, _how_ could I be mad? I mean, I know _why_ you didn't tell me you're Ladybug, you said so at the dance last night, but…jeez…" Alya chuckled as she stepped back to look over Marinette once more, "I'm only mad at myself for not putting the pieces together sooner. How oblivious can you be to not see all of the _many_ obvious shared traits? Some journalist I am…I even accused you of living a double life one time! God, help me."

Marinette couldn't help but laugh at the display Alya was putting on of berating herself for being so blind as to what was right in front of her. The brunette began pacing back and forth, making sense of all the times Marinette had disappeared and Ladybug showed up.

"Wait!" the girl in glasses exclaimed, causing her best friend to jump.

"What? What's wrong?" Marinette asked, suddenly worried for her friend's out-of-the-blue behavior change.

"This is perfect," Alya mumbled to herself before facing Marinette, "Okay, so you know how I'm, like, your best friend and everything I do is for your own good and stuff and how we're not supposed to keep secrets from each other unless they're, like, _really_ important?"

Confused, the bluenette nodded her head 'yes' as she tried to figure out where Alya was going with this. She could've been referring to her because she just found out Marinette's biggest secret, which was only a secret to begin with in order to protect Alya and other loved ones.

"I didn't ever tell you this because I love you and didn't wanna see you get akumatized over it and all…but…oh, I don't know how you'll react if I say…" Alya whimpered as she folded her arms and sank into the pink, polka-dot chaise.

"Alya, just tell me," Marinette replied and plopped herself down next to the brunette. She cuddled up next to her plaid-clad friend and bat her bluebell eyes up at the brunette.

"Okay, um…how do I put this? You don't have a chance with Adrien," the brunette saw the kind and innocent look on Marinette's face shatter and contort into an expression of lost hope, "I mean, he doesn't like you."

"What?" Marinette managed to voice, on the verge of tears. The aspiring journalist concluded that those were a poor choice of words to have chosen from.

"I mean, he doesn't like _this_ you," Alya gestured to Marinette, who started to cry, and figured that wasn't the right way to tell her best friend either, " _I mean_ , Nino told me Adrien has his heart set on another girl and that he has such crazy crush on her—almost as bad as your crush on him."

Marinette wiped her eyes with the back of her porcelain hand and glanced up at Alya, who wore a smile that stretched from ear to ear. The blue-haired girl felt like she couldn't speak, like there was a lump in her throat that prevented her from talking. How could she not know that Adrien, _her_ Adrien loved someone else?

"Wh-Who?" the blue-haired girl sniffled as she buried her face in her hands, preparing herself to hear the name of the girl who held the key to the blond's heart. One thing kept running through her mind, however: please don't let it be Chloe.

"Ladybug," Alya smugly grinned and grabbed Marinette by the shoulders, forcing the sobbing girl to look into her hazel eyes.

"What?" Marinette asked, regaining that hopeful look in her eyes.

"Girl, Adrien is hot for you! Well, technically Ladybug, but _you're_ Ladybug, so...he likes you back!" the blogger squealed with delight, "Forget my LadyNoir ship, Ladrien is officially my OTP! Or would it be Adrienette? Same difference." Alya shrugged as she sat back in amusement in how quickly Marinette turned into a cheerful glob of delight, bouncing up and down in her seat.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Marinette finally managed to giggle as she embraced her friend in a bear hug, tackling the brunette and causing the both of them to fall to the floor, "But I don't care…because _Adrien likes me_!"

* * *

 **A lot of you guys guessed Alya, and I congratulate you!**

 **So far this story has covered three of the four ships in the love square, so you could say that next up is Ladrien (and Adrienette and LadyNoir and MariChat because when Alya says 'same difference', she doesn't realize how that applies to literally every ship). Also, I didn't even notice Alya said an unintentional pun until after I reread this ;)**

 **Let me know in the reviews if you can find it...also let me know what you like, what you don't like, what you want to see happen, and any predictions you have for future chapters.**

 **Until next chapter, toodles! :D**


	23. Chapter 23: Great

Hello beautiful people! Enjoy the next chapter! :3

* * *

 **Chapter 23**

* * *

"Girl," Alya began, pulling herself onto Marinette's chaise, "You know what you have to do now, right?" The brunette patted the pink-spotted cushion to her left, motioning for Marinette to join her.

The blue-haired girl hummed with delight as she scrambled off of the floor and nestled into the open seat next to her best friend. Marinette shrugged as she looked to the blogger, wondering what she meant by that.

"No?" the bluenette voiced.

The brunette in glasses jokingly rolled her hazel eyes as she chuckled at the young designer. Alya took Marinette's slim hands in her own and, staring intensely into her bluebell eyes, scrunched her face up to look somewhat disappointed but relaxed her expression to grin smugly at Marinette.

"Marinette, you have to take charge, girl," the aspiring journalist proclaimed, "Now that I know you're Ladybug, and since you know a certain Mr. Agreste has a thing for Ladybug, and you have a thing for him…do you get what I'm getting at here?"

The bluenette shook her head 'no', her twin tails bouncing from side to side as she did so, and cocked her head to the side in confusion. Alya released her grip on her friend's hands and practically smacked herself in the face. The brunette couldn't believe Paris' most oblivious girl was able to keep a secret from her for about a year—she wouldn't forget that.

"What I'm saying is, _go get your man_!" Alya cheered, slapping a bright, wide grin onto her tan face.

"What!" Marinette shrieked in response, jumping to her feet. As the bluenette popped off of her chaise, the pink pouch she wore at her hip slipped off of her shoulder and landed harshly on the floor by her feet.

A red being burst from the opening and whirled around in front of the two girls whilst displaying a look of annoyance. While Marinette winced under the parental-like, scrutinizing glare from her kwami, Alya's eyes grew as big as saucers as she pulled out her phone out of habit. It wasn't every day that she saw a magical, bug-creature freely flying about her best friend's bedroom.

"No, Alya, put that away!" Marinette squeaked, causing Tikki to zip around and face the brunette, "No one can know she exists!"

"Not even for the Ladyblog? I mean, nobody would know she's your…whatever she is," Alya begged, waving her phone about to further plead her case, "She could be the mascot or something!"

"Hello, Alya, I'm Tikki," the red bug spoke up, drawing Alya's attention toward herself, "I've heard a great deal about you and your blog. However, even though I won't appear in any photographs or videos, no one can know that I exist."

"Hi… _Tikki_ ," the brunette continued the introduction, unsure, and lowered her smartphone back down. The blogger's hazel orbs trailed over to Marinette who stood a few paces back with a smile plastered on her face. When Alya furrowed her brows at the blue-haired girl, she simply motioned for the brunette to go on. "Um, what— _who_ are you, exactly?"

"I'm a kwami, more specifically, the ladybug kwami. I help Marinette transform into Ladybug, so…you think of me as her mask," Tikki smiled sweetly at the girl who sat in amazement before her.

"How? I saw her transform back into Marinette, but how do _you_ transform her?" Alya inquired, her journalist skills kicking in.

"I enter her miraculous, the earrings that Hawkmoth always tries to take, when Marinette says the key words, 'spots on'. Then, I assist her transformation into Ladybug so she's ready to save the day. But, once she uses her special power, her lucky charm, she only has minutes before she changes back and I'm forced to exit her miraculous," Tikki explained all the while Alya made mental notes of how Marinette became Ladybug.

"And the same thing happens with Chat Noir?" Alya questioned, growing more curious as to how the miraculous and kwamis worked.

"Yes, the same rules apply to him and his kwami, Plagg. Only, as you may have seen on the news and or in person, Chat Noir can't purify the akumas…just Ladybug," the petite, red being announced.

"I see, so Hawkmoth wants both Ladybug and Chat Noir's miraculous—but why?" the aspiring journalist asked. Alya's face read investigative, like she was attempting to solve a mystery and was piecing the details she learned together.

"By controlling both the ladybug and black cat miraculous, Hawkmoth would obtain the absolute power of creation and destruction and no one would be able to stop him. What he wants that power for…we don't know. The result of him gaining such sovereignty would be catastrophic-"

"I hate to interrupt 'Miraculous 101'," Marinette shakily interjected, switching the focus over to herself. She couldn't get what Alya told her earlier about Adrien out of her head! "But, Alya, what you said about Adrien…I…I can't just 'go get my man'!"

The bluenette put on her best sassy Alya impression, causing the brunette to chortle and Tikki to giggle at the display. Both instantly abandoned the conversation they held about Hawkmoth to handle Marinette's boy trouble. After all, there would be plenty of time later to discuss everything about Ladybug and Chat Noir, miraculous, and Hawkmoth.

"Sure you can," Alya assured, crossing her legs and folding her arms, "Just march your happy body over to his place and-"

"No! Are you crazy! I-I-I can't! Wh-What would I even say? 'Hey, Adrien what's up? I just found out you like me, but not exactly…but hey, that's okay because I like you, too! Wanna hang out?'" the bluenette spewed out, flustered. Marinette fell to her knees and pouted up at Alya as she patted the blue-haired girl's head lovingly.

"Girl, you're overthinking it…" the blogger brushed aside Marinette's concern, "Just go visit Mr. Hot Stuff as Ladybug, duh."

"Isn't that taking advantage of and using my miraculous for selfish purposes?" the bluenette countered, trying to get out of the situation, "I don't think it's a good idea for me to go…"

"Oh, come on, Mari," Alya expressed with encouragement, Tikki at the brunette's side and nodding along, "You always do things for others, so do something for yourself, for once!"

"But…" Marinette glanced over at her desk in attempt to avoid Alya's eager stare, only she caught sight of the two roses displayed by her computer monitor. Her cheeks flushed when she saw the pink rose Adrien gave her last night, the white, lacey ribbon still tied in a bow at the stem. That rose, that little, wilting flower, gave Marinette the courage she needed in that moment…that rose from Adrien. But not only the one from Adrien, but the red rose from Chat Noir, too. Both of those flowers provided Marinette with a sense of enhanced confidence she has as Ladybug. "Okay," she sighed.

Alya jumped to her feet and danced around the room awkwardly whilst cheering and throwing her hands in the air. It didn't take long for Tikki to join in as well, but the bug-like kwami couldn't help but feel slightly jealous that the brunette was able to convince Marinette to do something she never could: talk to Adrien. She knew she shouldn't get that upset though, after all, Alya was her chosen's best friend and in the end, Tikki was more than happy for Marinette.

"Yes, you go, girl!" the blogger whooped.

"Alright, I'm gonna swing over to his place and…and…and I'm gonna talk to him!" Marinette hooted, partially panicked, "You ready, Tikki?"

The petite, red kwami gave a nod of assurance and zipped over to the blue-haired girl with a cheery smile stretching across her face.

"Tikki, spots on!" Marinette called out.

With a flicker of light coming from her earrings, Tikki disappeared into the miraculous and the bluenette became engulfed in pink light. Marinette's regular clothes were replaced with her spotted suit and mask as the shimmer of bubbly light faded away again.

"Whoa, that was off the chain!" Alya gasped, awestruck, "So, where do your clothes go? Are you wearing anything under your superhero suit? Wait! That's how you made such a spot on replica of Chat's suit…wait…speaking of Chat Noir, if you're not wearing anything under that spandex… _that's_ why he's always staring at you like-"

"Alya!" Ladybug cried, "Could you please _not_ suggest my partner is a pervert? I already had to deal with one…"

"Oh, right, that artist-copy-cat dude," the tan girl nodded, "Hold up, that guy was like, almost thirty or something and was in love with you? Girl, you were fifteen at the time! Oh, gosh, that is…that is something else."

"Tell me about it," the superheroine sighed, "Besides, I have no idea what's under my suit…I never thought to ask Tikki about it."

"Yeah, where is Tikki, now?" Alya questioned, looking around the attic bedroom and inched closer to the red-clad heroine. Ladybug pointed to her earrings as she made her way to the window behind her chaise. "Oh…right," the brunette in glasses giggled.

Ladybug creaked the window open, ready to jump out and swing over to the Agreste mansion, but something stopped her. What _would_ she say when she faced the love of her life? How would she tell him she felt the same way about him? The bluenette didn't realize that as she was getting cold feet—so to speak—Alya had been deep in thought, searching her memories of all the times she encountered Ladybug.

" _You_ locked Nino and me in that panther exhibit!" the blogger piped up.

That was enough of a push Ladybug needed to get out of there before Alya began berating her for her past actions. She couldn't have flung her yo-yo any faster than what she just had in order to flee from her bedroom and into the night.

"Uh…gotta go, bye!" Ladybug called out as she swung out into the distance.

* * *

Plagg had long since drifted off to sleep and was now curled up on Adrien's pillow on his bed. The blond, himself, was pacing about his room because he couldn't keep his mind from thinking back to Marinette again, of all people. More specifically, the kiss they had shared…well, more like _kisses_.

It was almost exactly twenty-four hours ago that he had visited her as Chat Noir, kissed her twice, and she kissed him. He hadn't the slightest idea of why his thoughts had lingered back to her, but he was still hung up on _why_ she kissed him. Yes, Adrien figured it was because she was thinking of someone else, but what caused her to initially grab his bell and pull him in for another peck? Actually, it was more than a peck…

He needed advice, _girl_ advice, and there was only one person he could think of that would be able to help him. The model whipped out his phone and scrolled through his contacts until he reached the one he was searching for. Adrien only hoped that he would still be awake as he pressed the 'call' icon.

" _Dude…_ " rasped a voice on the other line.

"Nino! I need help!" Adrien whisper-screamed. He didn't want to wake his slumbering kwami, or the rest of the mansion, for that matter.

" _And you thought calling me at the middle of the night would help? Bro, I need my beauty sleep, too…not everyone can be effortlessly handsome like_ some _people I know_ ," the DJ complained.

"Listen, please, it's about…a girl," the blond managed to voice before wincing at his desperation.

" _Oh, man, that's dope! The love doctor is here to help with all your—wait. Is this about Ladybug? Because if it is, homie, I-_ " Nino was immediately cut off by Adrien frantically waving his free hand in front of himself and uttering gibberish.

"No! N-No, wait, it's not about Ladybug, I promise," he spewed out, "It's a different girl."

" _Who?_ " the brunet asked.

"N-Nobody you know, that's for sure," Adrien felt the sweat rolling down his back and sides of his face as he continued to pace back and forth in front of his white couch, "Let's say it's a hypothetical girl."

" _Okay…?_ " Nino voiced, not completely believing his best bud, " _Let's hear it, then._ "

"Okay, so hypothetically, would a hypothetical girl, hypothetically kiss hypothetical me, hypothetically, because she was hypothetically on her hypothetical cycle? Like, would that hypothetically have anything to do with the hypothetical kiss? Hypothetically speaking, of course," Adrien hoped that his question/statement had sounded believable enough for his friend, after all, his excuses for when he disappeared to be Chat Noir were always bought to be true.

" _No way. Adrien, my man, a girl kissed you? When? Where? Who? Hold up, was it Marinette?_ " the DJ overwhelmed Adrien with questions, all of which he ignored. Except for that last one…that last one caught his ear.

"What? No! Why would you think it was Marinette? _Hypothetical_ , remember?" the blond jittered. _How did he know it was Marinette? Why would he think to guess Marinette so quickly?_ "Can you just help answer my question, please?" He wanted to change the topic from his blue-haired classmate as soon as possible.

" _No can do, dude, sorry. I'm not well educated enough on shark weeks to answer that, bro. Maybe, if you're feeling brave enough, ask Alya or Marinette-_ "

"No!" Adrien cried, not wanting to swim back to 'Marinette territory' in the deep end.

He preferred to stay in the shallow end of the pool where it was safe and there was a lesser chance of him drowning in her bluebell eyes. _Bluebell eyes_ …great, now he was thinking of Ladybug.

A tapping noise sounded from his window that broke the silence, so, naturally, Adrien looked up to see what caused the tapping. Great, now he was imagining seeing Ladybug outside his window…

The two locked eyes, deep blue waters flooded into a green, grassy field. She hung from her yo-yo, dangled just in front of his window and, using her free hand, tapped the glass again. Oh, great, Ladybug was _actually_ outside his room!

"N-Nino…I go have got—I mean, I got to have—I mean, I have to go!" Adrien sputtered as he fumbled with his high-tech smart phone. He didn't even bother letting his DJ friend answer him before the blond managed to end the call.

Without missing a beat, Adrien dropped his phone, which landed rather gently on his white couch, as he stared in awe at his lady. The moonlight bounced off her soft features, making her skin shine like a pearl and her hair glimmer with light every time the wind rustled through her midnight locks. Her eyes glowed as did her smile which, beneath the cool night's gleam, appeared warm and comforting. Adrien was so immersed with her beauty that he hadn't noticed his feet ever so slowly carried him over to the window.

She was so close—Ladybug was so close—and all that separated she and the blond was a pane of glass. Adrien unlatched the window and pushed it open to ask his lady why she visited him out of everyone in Paris. Unless, she knew he was Chat Noir and that was why she came to see him? If that were the case, then Adrien was monumentally screwed.

After he opened the large window for Ladybug, he expected her to leap into his room like how he usually did when he visited Marinette. However, all his lady did was comfortably position herself to sit on the ledge of the window with her legs dangling outside but her body twisted to face him. It looked like a rather uncomfortable state to be in, but the model knew that the spotted heroine was _very_ flexible.

Adrien wanted to talk to her so badly, ask her why she had come to visit him, but his heart pounded up into his throat and he was at a loss for words. The blond tried to say something by opening his mouth but he only ended up catching flies for he couldn't find his voice, being so enamored by Ladybug's beauty and all.

"Um…hi," the bluenette finally squeaked, breaking the silence. That was something unusual and uncommon to Adrien—since when did she act so timid and nervous?

"H-Hello," the model breathed as he gazed into her bluebell eyes.

"You're probably wondering why I came here," Ladybug looked down to her feet in hopes of avoiding that emerald stare.

"You read my mind," Adrien managed to let a small chuckle slip past his lips. At hearing that golden laughter, Ladybug picked her head up and beamed at the blond.

"I, uh…this might sound pretty ridiculous…um…" the spotted heroine trailed off while shrugging her shoulders. Then, like a jolt of electricity coursed through her veins, she felt a hand on her knee. It was comforting and drew her eyes to look up and see a lavish meadow of brilliant greens swimming together in Adrien's kind eyes.

"You can tell me, I won't judge," he offered her a weak smiled and gently squeezed her knee, but was quick to retract his hand once he realized he had been touching her. A scarlet blush swiped across his cheeks and Adrien hoped that Ladybug hadn't noticed.

"Well, I heard—er, was told that you…you, um, heh..." Ladybug jittered, "Someone told me that you might like me…as in, _like_ like me. Is that true?"

Adrien's cheeks emitted more than heat, they were practically burning with embarrassment. How had she found out? Who told her? It didn't matter, all that mattered was the fact that his lady was pooling her bluebell eyes into him, shyly waiting for a response. He had to say _something_ back to her.

"I, uh, ahem…that's…yes," the blond bowed his head and folded his hands in front of him as he let his eyes trail down to the floor. He couldn't look her in the eye, Adrien couldn't lift his gaze to glance at the girl he secretly-now-not-so-secretly loved.

"Me too," she managed to utter in a hushed voice.

Adrien jerked his head up to meet his lady's sapphire orbs, but was met with her furiously blushing and holding her breath, her eyes were wide with anticipation. She hadn't ever been this openly weak-kneed around Adrien before, but perhaps the mask made it easier to admit her feelings to him—the feelings he reciprocated.

"Can I…" he began in a lulled tone as his eyelids grew heavy and he leaned in closer to her.

Ladybug's eyes, like Adrien's, fluttered shut as she leaned in closer to the blond model. Her heart just about pounded out of her chest and threatened to jump out and hit him.

She couldn't believe what was happening; if someone told her that she'd be about to kiss Adrien flipping Agreste that night, she would have laughed. Yet, here she was, Ladybug all dolled up in red and black spots, about to experience what she had been longing for for over a year now.

Adrien placed a hand on her hip and connected his lips with Ladybug's for one, solid, long kiss. The bluenette held back the moan that climbed up her throat and attempted to escape her mouth, but she pushed the sound back. Instead, the spotted heroine sighed into the kiss and let the fireworks ignite the spark she'd craved for so long.

When Adrien began kissing her, he was gentle and giving. The blond took his time and poured everything he had into the tender action. He was a giver. With Chat Noir, the cat-boy was somewhat aggressive and taking. Granted, the blond was heartbroken, but the bittersweet kiss Chat shared with her as Marinette were the complete opposite of the kiss Ladybug was sharing with Adrien. He was a taker. However, both kisses shared the passionate intensity—for different reasons, of course.

Ladybug coiled her arm around Adrien's shoulders and dug her gloved hand into his blond locks as he pushed the kiss deeper. She grasped onto the window frame with her other hand to steady herself. The red-clad heroine pulled away from the kiss and slowly opened her eyes to see confused emerald orbs staring back at her with a hint of love-struck.

"Sorry, I just—was that too much?" Adrien asked gently as he brought his arms back by his sides.

"No! I mean, not at all. It was just enough—I mean, it was great…the kiss was great," Ladybug stammered as she gazed deeply into his smiling eyes. A little crinkle formed by his viridescent orbs from him grinning from ear to ear.

"Oh…well, I thought it was great, too," the blond voiced sheepishly.

The spotted heroine nodded her head as she smiled dumbly with a dazed look glazed over her eyes. Adrien, to her surprise, matched Ladybug's goofy grin and giddy eyes. The minute of silence between them was awkward to say the least. Thankfully, a rustle of leaves as well as quick and heavy footsteps sounded from outside.

"You should probably-"

"It's getting pretty late-"

Both teenagers forced out a soft chuckle as Ladybug turned to face the night sky with thousands of twinkling stars. She whipped out her yo-yo and shot it out into the inky blackness of the night before looking over her shoulder at the model boy.

"I'll, um, s-see you around?" she offered weakly, "I mean, I'll see _you_ but you won't see me…like, you'll probably see me _transformed_ but not…er…yeah."

"I know what you meant," Adrien giggled as he scratched the back of his head nervously, "I forgot for a minute that you said you go to my school, heh."

"Yeah, that really wasn't of my free choice," she muttered.

"But, I also found out that you're my age, so I don't see how that should make you feel super upset about revealing those details…even though you didn't want to. I mean, I sure am glad I now know that about you."

Ladybug's cheeks flushed pink as she brushed her bangs out of her eyes, but her locks only fell back to where they previously touched across her face.

"Goodnight, Adrien," she voiced sweetly.

"Goodnight, Ladybug," he replied, matching her tone.

With that, Ladybug tugged on the cord to her yo-yo and leapt from the window, swinging into the night sky and leaving Adrien with his pulse pounding in his head.

The blond model stared out of his window in awe as he watched his lady bound over a rooftop and disappear from view. He couldn't help but squeal and burst into skips and leaps around his room. Adrien was impressed that Plagg managed to sleep through his encounter with Ladybug _and_ his celebratory cheering.

Although, Adrien's thoughts wandered back to Marinette again. More so, the fact that kissing Marinette gave him the same fluttery feeling in his stomach that kissing Ladybug just did. His heart belonged to his lady…but perhaps…his princess, too?

"Oh, great," Adrien muttered sarcastically as he slumped his shoulders in defeat.

* * *

 **Please leave a review about what you like, don't like, want to see happen, and any predictions you have for future chapters...I'm open to suggestions! Thank you for continually supporting this story!**

 **Until next chapter, toodles! :D**


	24. Chapter 24: All the Deets

Hello beautiful people! School is out, I have internet again, I have updated! Life is good...especially now that the new chapter is here. As some of you may know, my last two updates were for "A Rose for Marinette" (now officially completed) and "The Next Generation" (I'm so happy about that one because I have been _dying_ to move it further along). Back to this story, I hope you lovelies enjoy! :3 **  
**

* * *

 **Chapter 24**

* * *

Adrien went back to standing flabbergasted as he continued to stare out his window into the night. He tried his best to push the idea of liking Marinette as something more than a friend out of his head. His mind was racing with a thousand thoughts that suddenly pooled into his brain. Like pieces of a puzzle, he finally fit everything together…especially the events from the dance.

"Plagg!" Adrien quickly spun around to face his sleeping kwami, "Plagg, wake up!"

The black cat creature stirred and lazily squinted his eyes open to glare at his chosen. He grumbled before curling up again, trying to drift off back to sleep.

"Plagg, I'm someone else!" Adrien squealed with delight. The blond's cheering became impossible to ignore, so the cat kwami slugged off of Adrien's pillow. He hovered over to the model boy, an irritated look contorting his face.

"You interrupted my beauty sleep to tell me your Cat Noir? Adrien, you have disturbed my slumber and for that you owe me more of my gooiness. Kwamis need their beauty sleep, too, you know," Plagg snapped as he folded his paws, "We can't all look effortlessly look like a too-hot-to-be-real, blond, model, cinnamon roll who has all the ladies, and probably some guys, swooning by just breathing."

"No, Plagg, I'm _the_ someone else!" the blond retorted.

"Kid, what the brie are you talking about?" the black cat yawned as he stretched his little limbs out to the sides. The moonlight reflected off of his jet black and aubergine coat as he did so.

"Ladybug told me she didn't like me as Cat Noir and that there was someone else, remember? Oh, wait, _you_ weren't there…that's right, you were scarfing down cheese in my locker…hmph. Anyway, she pretty much rejected my feelings and broke my heart because she told me there was _someone else_ she cared about. I think _I'm_ the someone else she was talking about—but as me, Adrien," he squeed as he proudly gestured to himself.

Plagg blankly stared at the blond, growing bored with Adrien's fanciful crush on his partner. Finally, Adrien realized Ladybug, or rather, Marinette, liked him back…but if only Plagg could just tell him that his partner in crime-fighting _was_ Marinette. That boy was too oblivious for his own good…she could drop her transformation right in front of Adrien and he'd wonder where Ladybug had gone.

"Okay, that's great for you, I'll just be going back to bed now…" Plagg deadpanned as he began to float back to the pillow that beckoned him to return and cuddle up in a ball.

All he wanted was to sink back into the warmth of Adrien's pillow and sleep soundly. Unfortunately for Plagg, however, Adrien had other plans.

"Oh, no," Adrien chuckled, reaching out to grab Plagg by his tail. He pulled back and turned the black kwami around to face him with a smiled stretched across his face from ear to ear, "You and I are going to do some more research on Ladybug to find out who she is."

Plagg whined and groaned as he squinted his bright green, cat-like eyes at the blond. _This had better mean he'll figure it out_ , the petite kwami mused, _I don't know how much more of this I can take._

* * *

Ladybug slipped through her window, touching down to her bedroom floor before releasing her transformation. Tikki popped out of Marinette's earrings and crash-landed in a heap of red and black spots on the chaise nearby, completely exhausted.

Marinette chuckled as she fished around in her purse for a cookie and, after finding one, she tossed the baked good to her kwami. The blue-haired girl had almost forgotten that Alya had been waiting in her room until she looked up and saw her seemingly out of breath.

"Oh…hey…how'd it…go? Anything…happen?" the brunette asked in between gasps.

"What, did you run a marathon in the ten minutes I was gone?" Marinette joked as she skipped over to her panting friend.

"What? Girl…why would…you think…that?" Alya breathily squeaked, hands on her knees and hunched over. She had clearly been doing something for her to appear as if she had the wind knocked out of her; but what that was, Marinette wasn't sure.

The blue-eyed girl studied her friend's rhythmic panting, a small smile cracked at her lips due to the hilarity of the sight. She met Alya's eyes to see they were filled to the brim with questions.

"So…what happened? I need…all the…deets," the blogger continued to gasp as she grinned obnoxiously at Marinette, straightening her posture.

"We kissed," she sheepishly mumbled in response as she let her gaze drift to her shoes. A blush formed at Marinette's freckled cheeks, feeling like it was burning right through her flesh.

She squeaked when she felt Alya's arm wrap around her shoulders and guide her to her chaise to sit. Though her shoulder hadn't been hurting as much lately, there was still a twinge of pain when touched.

"I'm sorry, girl, I didn't quite hear you," Alya remarked with a smug look on her face.

"We kissed!" the blue-haired girl squealed, bouncing up and down in her seat next to the brunette. She thrashed her arms and legs around with delight as she continued to giggle and squeal to herself.

Alya watched in amusement, a smirk played at her mouth until she erupted into school girl squeals as well. She intertwined her fingers with Marinette's and, holding each other's hands, leapt from the chaise to jump up and down in excitement. It didn't take long for Tikki to fly over and loop around the two, smiling and cheering just as brightly.

"Girl! I _need_ a full walk-through of what happened!" the girl in glasses squeed.

"Okay, okay!" Marinette giggled back, still tickled at the thought of her lips on Adrien's.

She collected herself and fell back onto the spotted chaise in a dream-like state and sighed. Alya knelt down on the floor next to the cushioned seat that Marinette had sprawled herself across and watched her vividly. The brunette waited patiently for her best friend to tell her everything, but Marinette looked so caught up in reliving the moment, that she forgot to physically tell Alya.

"So…?" the blogger egged on, hoping to snap Marinette out of her more-than-pleasant memory. It worked, as the bluenette had craned her neck to look into Alya's hazel eyes with a goofy grin plastered on her face.

"Oh, right," Marinette blushed, "So, I knocked on his window, right? Then he comes over and opens it—boy did he look surprised! But like a good surprised…like the kinda surprised you get when you're surprised with a hamster! You're so happy and surprised at the same time but also confused, because, why would you all of a sudden have a hamster? He looked surprised like he was just surprised with a hamster—is the word 'surprised' starting to sound weird or is it just me? But Adrien was surprised-"

"Marinette! Girl, slow down, stop repeating yourself, and stop talking about hamsters!" Alya chortled, playfully pushing the love-struck girl, "What happened next?"

"Heh, sorry…" the designer nervously chuckled as she continued, "I told him that someone told me—I didn't say who, so you don't have to worry-"

"I wasn't worried to begin with."

"-about that," Marinette finished her statement, "Okay then, well, I said that someone told me that he liked me and he got all flustered…it was so cute and hot at the same time—is that even possible? He eventually admitted that he liked me and I was, like, _screaming_ on the inside but was, like, super chill on the outside. I was Ladybug at the time and Ladybug does _not_ freak out like Marinette does. Anyway, I said I felt the same way, he asked if he could kiss me, we kissed, I felt like I was gonna fall out of his window, we heard some noise or something, stopped kissing, then I left. Simple as that."

"Was he a good kisser?" Alya cooed then proceeded to pucker her lips overdramatically and make kissing noises.

"Stop that," Marinette giggled as she gently pushed Alya away from the chaise, "But, yes! He was amazing! It was like fireworks on my lips, and I got this fluttery feeling in my stomach, and he was so gentle but it was still passionate, and— _oh no_!"

Alya watched in bewilderment as her friend began talking to herself, mumbling and muttering incoherent words. Tikki then hovered by Alya's shoulder, watching with a blank expression at Marinette's display.

"I…um…what is happening right now?" Alya asked the kwami, utterly confused.

"Give her a minute," the red bug-like creature deadpanned, not breaking her stare from her whining chosen.

"No! This can't be happening!" the blue-haired Parisian finally blurted out for the others to hear.

Alya and Tikki looked at each other, then to Marinette with worried looks upon their faces. The blogger moved to sit on the edge of the chaise by her friend's feet and coaxed Marinette to sit up straight to give her room. Once the bluenette repositioned herself, she immediately crashed her head into Alya's shoulder, groaning. Tikki took the opportunity to float over by Alya again so she could get a better view and offer her wise words in case she needed to.

"Mari, honey, what's wrong?" Alya asked in a sing-song voice, impersonating Sabine's soothing and motherly voice as best as she could.

"It was just like Cat Noir!" Marinette groaned into Alya's shirt, causing her utterance to come out somewhat muffled, "Ugh, why!"

"Okay, I'm officially lost…Cat Noir? What's he got to do with your kiss with Adrien?" the brunette questioned, peeling Marinette off of her to look into her devastated, bluebell eyes.

"That's just the thing! When I Adrien kissed me, I felt the same way when I kissed Cat!" the designer whined.

Tikki tried her best to hide her joyous grin as Marinette compared the kisses she shared with Adrien and Cat Noir…who were the same person. The petite kwami gained a sliver of hope that Marinette was close to figuring out the big secret that had been eating Tikki away. She couldn't stand much more of seeing her chosen break down as such over the same boy whilst thinking he was two different guys.

"Hold the phone, back it up, _when_ did _that_ happen with Cat Noir?!" Alya gasped, shock etched into her eyes, but a grin played at her mouth.

"Which time?" Marinette answered with a question without even thinking of the wording she used.

"There was more than one?!" Alya shrilled, excitement woven into her hollers, "Spill."

Marinette groaned and rubbed her temples with her fingertips as she brought her knees to her chest. The blogger sat with little patience for her friend to retell the stories of her other kissing affairs she had with the infamous feline hero of Paris, anticipation boiling in her system.

"Remember Dark Cupid back on Valentine's day? And how you were under that spell about hate and blah, blah, blah…" Marinette finally asked, receiving a curt nod from Alya, "Well, so was Cat Noir and in order to break that stupid spell, I had to…you know…kiss him. I originally thought the butterflies in my stomach were some sort of side effect from spell being lifted or maybe it was because it was my first kiss? I don't know…I was quick to throw him at Kim right after that, heh."

"You had your first kiss and didn't tell me?" the brunette was taken aback and hurt filled her eyes and she stared at Marinette.

"I'm sorry, I wish I could've, but you know why I couldn't," the designer smiled sadly. The blogger, in turn, nodded her head as she copied Marinette's expression, but it was quickly replaced with a fanciful gleam in her eyes and a wide grin on her lips.

"I wish I was there to get a pic for the Ladyblog!" Alya whined as she gazed off, imagining what a picture like that would look like and do for her blog…though, she was beginning to get a better idea, "Wait, in class that day we were talking about true love's kiss and other fairy tale stuff. Wouldn't that mean true love's kiss had to break the spell Cat Noir was under?" Alya wiggled her eyebrows suggestively at her best friend.

"Yeah, I know Cat claims to be in love with me and all that jazz, but he's a flirt!" Marinette countered, "He's probably like that with all the girls…"

"True, but come on, Mari," Alya reasoned, "If it was true love's kiss that broke the spell, then that means you _have_ to have some lovey-dovey feelings for him!"

"Well, that means it wasn't true love's kiss," the blue-haired girl pouted and folded her arms, "He's my partner, my friend! I only like _Adrien_ like that. Duh, he's the _love_ of my life…Cat Noir, he's the…the… _partner_ of my life."

Alya simply rolled her eyes at her friend's stubbornness, jokingly pushing her at the same time. Then, the brunette remembered what else Marinette had said about there being other times she made out with the black-clad hero.

"Mari, you said you kissed Cat Noir on more than one occasion, yeah? So how come I never saw or heard of it? I mean, I'm Ladybug's— _your—_ biggest fan…I always know when there's a scoop, so explain to me how I missed out on this one?" Alya narrowed her hazel eyes behind her glasses at the young designer, beginning to shrivel under her friend's intimidating stare.

"Th-That's because the other three times were recent—really recent—like… _yesterday_ recent," Marinette squeaked, "And…because I wasn't exactly… _Ladybug_ …when they happened?"

Marinette braced herself for a tidal wave of berating from Alya, but all she got was a loud, long, and uninterrupted squeal from the blogger.

"Now, _this_ , I wanna hear!" Alya sang.

* * *

 **Yay! Adrien isn't totally oblivious! Not yay...Marinette kind of is...**

 **Thank you so much for taking the time to read my fanfic, I greatly appreciate it! I would also appreciate it if you also took the time to write a review about what you like, what you don't like, what you want to see happen, and any predictions you want to see happen. I'm very open to suggestions! If you have any questions regarding any of my stories, feel free to private message me :)**

 **That's all for now, toodles! :D**

 **(PS: Can we just take a minute to appreciate Plagg's side comment/ _kinda_ fourth wall break?) **


	25. Chapter 25: Opportunities

Hello beautiful people! Thank you so much for all of your support by choosing to follow, favorite, and review my story. I can't believe it's shy of 300 follows and over 200 favorites. Enjoy! :3

* * *

 **Chapter 25**

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Marinette didn't remember much of what happened last night after Alya left. She recalled telling her best friend about the multiple kisses with Chat Noir whilst she was Marinette, but after that was a bit of a blur. The young designer believed they had gotten to talking about the different victims Ladybug and Chat Noir battled in past, then Hawkmoth, and then the struggle of leading her double life. Marinette was pretty sure Alya even offered to help out and act as her cover when she needed to transform.

The half-awake bluenet shifted in her bed, pivoting her head to see Tikki sleeping on her over-sized cat pillow. Marinette's bluebell eyes trailed over to her alarm clock which read seven o'clock. Great, the one time she woke up on time, it was a Saturday. Marinette figured she should still get up and around…make use of the extra time since she was already awake.

The blue-haired girl gently pulled her covers off and swung her legs over the side of her loft bed, careful not to wake her slumbering kwami. Once in the clear, Marinette descended the staircase to her computer.

She jiggled the mouse to light up her computer's monitor to be met with several pictures of Adrien's perfect face. Instantly, Marinette flashed back to her tender kiss with the boy of her dreams and the way his lips melted into hers, the fireworks she felt that reminded her of— _nope_ …Marinette was _not_ going to somehow wander back to thinking of Chat Noir again… _nope_.

However, now that she thought of her silly kitty, she wondered if Alya had posted anything about him on her blog. What was she thinking? Marinette was _purposely_ looking for blurbs about her partner the same way did with Adrien…but why? She had never thought to look up Chat Noir on the internet before, much less Alya's Ladyblog.

Well, since she already had the thought of her best friend's blog running through her mind, Marinette pulled up a new tab and typed in the link for the Ladyblog. All seemed normal when her screen was soon covered in red with black spots and pictures of herself suited up all throughout the page. Only, Marinette was most definitely not prepared for had become the new buzz on the blog.

* * *

Adrien's emerald orbs shot open quickly and, soon after, his body followed the same speed of sitting upright in his swivel chair. The blond looked around his room, trying to remember what he was doing before he passed out, dead tired at his desk. His gaze trailed over to Plagg, who was curled up on a pillow on his bed. His bed was still made, which meant he never slept in it last night.

The model shook the last bits of sleep out of his head as he looked over at his computer monitors. The three screens were black, which lead Adrien to grow even more curious about what he couldn't remember he had been doing the previous night. So, he did the most logical thing and jiggled his mouse to wake up his monitors.

That was right, he was on the Ladyblog…but why? What had he been—oh, right…he was trying to find out Ladybug's identity under the mask. Adrien scratched his head as his memory blanked out on him.

However, being that he was already on Alya's blog, the blond figured he might as well scroll through to see if anything was posted since he fell asleep at the keyboard. Much to his luck, there was an update made: a picture with a caption at the top.

It was a high definition photo of Ladybug sitting in a window sill, holding onto the pane, and _kissing Adrien_. The memory flooded into Adrien's brain and, like a whirlpool, spun around in his mind as he recalled the passionate kiss he and his lady shared after admitting their feelings for one another. What jumped out at him the most was the caption that read, 'Ladybug's Lucky Lover?'.

A deep crimson blush crept up the blond model's face, causing heat to radiate off his cheeks. Adrien would be lying if he said he didn't like the picture, in fact, he loved the photo that captured his now-most-treasured memory. Heck, he wanted to have the original, signed by the love of his life, of course, then framed for his wall.

But, that wishful thinking turned him to wonder where the picture came from, who took it, and how had he or she done so? His best bet was Alya, being that it was her blog; but why would Alya have been at his house at that hour? His mind soon grew crowded with copious questions, all of which he didn't feel like finding answers for. At this point, Adrien didn't care that a picture of him kissing Ladybug was posted for the world to see.

Then, it dawned on him: his father was a part—a small part—of the world.

* * *

Marinette wasted no time dialing Alya immediately after she laid eyes of the picture of she and Adrien during their short-lived make out session. There were several rings before the brunette picked up, answering groggily.

" _Marinette_?" the blogger sounded as if she had just been awoken, " _Why are you calling me at, uh…it's early, that much I know. What are you even doing up-_ "

"Alya! I can't believe you!" Marinette shrieked, fuming with anger and betrayal.

" _Whoa, girl, what's wrong_?" that certainly startled Alya enough awake to respond to her friend's panicked shrills.

"What's wrong is you were there!" the blue-haired girl accused, stomping her foot at the same time.

" _What do mean I was—oh…you saw_?" Alya sheepishly remarked, her words squirming weakly out of her mouth.

"Yeah, I saw…what the heck, Alya?" Marinette yelled, but not too loudly to wake her parents, "I mean, you clearly followed me! _And_ you spied on Adrien and me, too! Oh my gosh, you must've ran back when you saw me leave…no, wait, you made the sound last night! The rustle in the leaves! That was you…then you ran back to the bakery which explains why you were so out of breath! Unbelievable!"

" _Mari, I'm sorry_ … _truly, I am_ ," Alya pleaded after wincing at her friend blowing a fuse.

Marinette closed her eyes to take a deep breath in through her nose and exhale out from her mouth. She counted to ten in her head and opened her sky orbs once she gained her composure. The blue-haired girl detested getting worked up about things, especially when it led to her getting mad her best friend.

"No, I'm sorry, Alya," Marinette apologized into her phone in a much calmer and remorseful voice, "I shouldn't have lashed out at you like that…the picture just surprised me, and _not_ like a good hamster surprise."

" _I know what you mean, girl_ ," the blogger giggled on the other line, remembering the events of the previous night, " _I promise I won't follow you and post pictures of you without your consent from now on_."

"What? No, I don't care about me being in the picture," the young designer spoke, "You can post…as many pics of me as you like."

" _Oh? I thought you were upset about the photo of you_ ," Alya replied, confusion etched in her tone of voice.

"No, not me," Marinette answered, "Adrien."

" _Why are you upset about—oh my God, Marinette, I'm so sorry_!" the brunette panicked, " _I didn't even realize_!"

"Adrien's father."

* * *

Nathalie sucked in a breath before entering Gabriel's office, clutching her tablet tightly as she strode in. After the door creaked open, she stood in wait to proceed at the entrance.

The elder designer busied himself by pacing back and forth in front of a table, scrutinizing the several sketch books laid out and open to rather basic designs. He vigorously flipped through the pages of the book closest to him, but was quick to throw it back down on the table in disgust. The loud and sudden noise echoed around Gabriel's office, also causing Nathalie to gasp from being jump-scared.

"What is it?" the white-haired man spat, "If it's not important, don't bother me."

"I-It's about your son, Adrien, sir," his assistant stammered as she inched closer.

Gabriel failed to look up at his assistant, he merely kept bashing his designs. He pointed out the sketches'—according to him—countless flaws. Nathalie waited patiently for a response from her boss, but the designer kept talking to himself, uttering terms that she didn't know the meaning of.

"Sir?" Nathalie repeated, raising her voice slightly, "Your son?"

"Ah, yes Adrien…" Gabriel muttered under his breath as he kept flipping through the sketchbooks on the desk. He scrunched up his face at the books before turning to look up at Nathalie and returning his expression to neutral. "Please remind him he has scheduled photoshoots from nine to eleven, then he has his piano lesson at noon, and fencing until three."

"Yes, sir. Right away, sir," the dark-haired woman retorted, "But, there is something else."

The designer tilted his head back a bit and arched his brow, signaling Nathalie to approach him. She walked at a somewhat quick pace, carrying the tablet flipped around and in front of her so the screen was facing outward. The Ladyblog was pulled up on the tablet, more specifically, the newest photo of the spotted heroine and Adrien.

Gabriel studied the photo intently, his face remaining expressionless the entire time. The white-haired man took the tablet from his assistant's hands and turned away to walk back to the desk where his supposedly failed designs laid, taunting him.

"Thank you for bringing this to my attention," the designer said coldly, "You may go."

Nathalie bowed her head and turned on her heel to exit the office. As soon as the door clicked shut, Gabriel placed the tablet down over top over his sketchbooks. He stared at the picture a little while longer before a crooked grin tugged at the corners of his mouth.

"And so, an opportunity has presented itself," Gabriel hummed.

* * *

 **Thank you so much for taking the time to read and review this fanfic of mine...let me know what you like, what you dislike, what you want to see happen, and any predictions you have for future chapters. I love reading what you lovelies have to say!**

 **Until next chapter, toodles! :D**


	26. Chapter 26: It's Okay

Hello beautiful people! Wow, it's been a while since I've updated this story...any of my stories, actually. So here I am, updating. Enjoy! :3

* * *

 **Chapter 26**

* * *

It was three o'clock in the afternoon when Marinette stood outside Master Fu's studio on the street. The old man said to meet half past three, but the bluenette was in the area after meeting Alya for lunch; the brunette was more than understanding when she had to take a raincheck on seeing a movie together. Plus, the young Parisian wished to discuss a few matters with Master Fu regarding the photo of herself as Ladybug with Adrien—without Chat Noir being present.

Marinette took a deep breath, gripping onto the strap of her purse that Tikki hid in, and opened the door. Only, once she pulled the door open, she nearly ran into someone. Upon closer inspection after staggering back a few steps, Marinette recognized her to be the same woman she saw at Master Fu's yesterday.

She had blonde hair and striking, emerald eyes set into her warm complexion. Her face seemed to grow even warmer once she flashed a—partially familiar—smile. Marinette couldn't place her finger on it, but she knew she had seen this blonde woman before…other than just yesterday. The blue-haired girl had to wonder, _Do I know any forty-something-year-old blonde women?_ Then, Marinette realized she had been gawking at the green-eyed lady for about thirty seconds now, and hadn't said a word.

"I-I-I'm so, _so_ sorry!" Marinette blurted out, "I didn't see you there, I'm such a klutz—honestly, clumsy doesn't begin to describe it! Heh, I really should've been paying attention because I probably could've done something way worse than just run into you-"

"Dear, you're rambling," the woman laughed, a light and airy feel took to their surroundings, "I've had my fair share of run-ins, and believe me when I tell you that running into you has been the most pleasant one I've had in a long time."

This sent a wave of relief over the dark-haired teenager, knowing that she didn't upset the blonde. She smiled at Marinette before nodding genuinely and walking away rather quickly with a sense of urgency. Marinette would've probably let her eyes follow to see where she was off to in such a hurry, but the way the woman was constantly looking over her shoulder suggested that wasn't the best idea. Marinette shrugged the thought away as the corners of her lips twitched up in a smile before entering Master Fu's studio.

Once she knew she was in the clear of the public eye, the bluenette clicked her pink pouch open and Tikki popped out. The petite kwami almost seemed overly enthusiastic by how she spun around in the air and phased through the door that led to the Great Guardian's studio space. Marinette recalled how she walked through that same door whilst clutching the book of miraculous heroes not too long ago. Things seemed so much simpler before then…

Suddenly, the door swung open and the short, elderly man stood before the slim teenager with an inviting smile upon his face. Without a word he nodded his head gently and turned on his heel to walk back into his studio. Marinette followed suit and her kwami trailed behind her as Master Fu shuffled to the back wall where his gramophone rested. He looked like he had busied himself with paperwork…for what, Marinette hadn't the slightest idea.

"Who was that woman who left here?" she spoke up, "I saw her yesterday, too, do you know-"

"She is a client of mine as well as an old friend," Master Fu replied calmly, still turned away from the young Parisian.

Marinette nodded her head dumbly as she looked to her feet. Tikki floated around her shoulder, offering a sweet smile to her chosen. Alas, the petite kwami's efforts failed to wash away the frown etched into Marinette's porcelain face.

"Something troubles you, Ladybug?" the old man spoke with a soothing voice.

Marinette focused her bluebell orbs on Master Fu and how he practically read her mind with his back to her. How had he known she was hung up on that photo of Adrien? Why, what would happen to him once his father saw it?

"I, um, yes…it's nothing _too_ bad," the blue-haired girl cringed at her lame attempt to hide the fact that she was terrified of what would happen to Adrien's image from that picture with her, "It's just this silly, little photo my best friend took and posted on her blog. I bet it's been reposted everywhere now, though."

"The picture of you whilst transformed sharing an… _intimate_ moment with that model boy?" Master Fu raised an eyebrow and let a small smile crack at his lips. He wiped his facial expression away and turned to face Marinette, who remained by the entrance. She gave him a look of shock and cocked her head to the side, to which Master Fu finished with, "I am old, but that does not mean I do not keep up with the times."

"Well…you kinda hit the nail on the head there," Marinette piped up as she made her way across the room to the elderly man, "I guess I'm worried because of…uh…what Chat Noir will think. I-I don't know how he'll react to the picture."

Master Fu saw right through her lie to cover up the concern for her crush. She didn't know how to just _tell_ the Great Guardian she was hung up on how that stupid photo would affect Adrien. Chat Noir seemed like the perfect excuse for her worrisome demeanor; after all, she hadn't even thought about what his reaction would be until now—that was just another thing to stress over as a result from the picture. While she wanted to talk about the photo of she and Adrien, Marinette felt like she couldn't approach the subject at the moment.

"I see," Master Fu hummed, "Well, in my opinion, I think Chat Noir will be more than okay with the photo. I believe he will be happy for you, even."

"You think?" Marinette asked, still unsure of the whole situation. She looked to Tikki who nodded her small head enthusiastically.

"It is almost time for training," the old man spoke in a hushed voice and winked as he said, "Perhaps you should transform before your partner arrives. I know you do not yet feel ready to know each other's identities. Am I correct, Miss Ladybug?"

Marinette gave the short, elderly man a curt nod and called out for her transformation. A bright flash of pink light engulfed the room as Tikki disappeared into the dark-haired teenager's earrings, leaving Ladybug in Marinette's place.

"Ah, perfect timing," Master Fu whispered to the red-clad girl.

Chat Noir burst through the open window and landed gracefully on all fours in the small studio. The blond quickly popped off the ground and allowed a frantic grin to twist his lips as he looked from the Great Guardian to Ladybug. His emerald eyes fixated on the spotted heroine as a blush crept onto his cheeks that burned right through his black mask.

Chat couldn't peel his eyes away from the breathtaking beauty he had kissed last night…he just _had_ to relive that moment again as he gazed at his lady. He realized that he hadn't said a word since he dropped in unannounced…though, to be fair, he _was_ told to meet Ladybug and Master Fu again—only, he was a few minutes late.

"Sorry, I had fencing that ran overtime," the feline hero blurted out, but tried to remain suave, "I _purr_ omise it won't happen again, Master…and M'Lady." He gave the bluenette a wink and cheeky smile before putting his hands on his hips as if he owned the place.

"You fence?" Ladybug inquired with a smirk as she shifted her weight to the side with one hand touching her chin as she pondered, "I didn't peg you for a fencer." _Maybe he knows Adrien through fencing? Oh no! What if Adrien showed Chat Noir the picture Alya took?_

"Wh-What? Uh, no! No, by 'fencing', I meant…painting a fence. Yeah, I had to paint a fence," the cat-boy spewed out.

Marinette had a feeling he was lying because that sounded like a lame excuse she would use. But, Chat Noir was allowed to have his normal life that was filled to the brim with secrets just like hers, so she didn't bother egging him on about lying to her. She knew her kitty didn't lie unless he had to for his identity and the safety of others, so she let that one slide.

Master Fu, on the other hand, sighed overdramatically and pinched the bridge of his nose as he shook his head from side to side. He lifted his warm, brown eyes to bore into Chat Noir's and a friendly smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.

"That is alright, Chat Noir," the old man eased, "You have your own life to live outside of being one of Paris' protectors. I would rather you show up late than not at all, anyway."

The blond nodded his head soundlessly as he grinned brightly at the Great Guardian; he acted like more of a dad than his father ever had. He could get used to that kind of warm energy from someone again, someone other than his friends, at least.

"Before we begin," Master Fu added, "Ladybug has something that concerns her...regarding you."

Ladybug's eyes grew wide as she whipped her head to the side and gaped at Master Fu, who flaunted a smug grin. She mouthed the words 'no, I don't' to the elderly man as she vigorously shook her head.

This peaked Chat Noir's interest…what could she possibly be worried about that involved him? Unless, she figured out his identity and told Master Fu—but Master Fu already knew his identity, his and Ladybug's both. After all, _he_ was the one who assigned the miraculous to them. That made Chat wonder if he could get his lady love's alter-ego from the old man and save himself the trouble of finding out on his own. But that wouldn't be fair play, and definitely not what a gentleman would do.

The black-clad hero leaned his upper body closer to Ladybug, with his hands behind his back and his head cocked to the side. He looked as if he were an upside-down 'L' with the way he was standing. That crooked grin plastered on his face made him appear like a goofy school boy begging to hear a juicy secret.

"Well…" the spotted heroine began as she twiddled her fingers. This was a side of Ladybug that Chat Noir had rarely seen…the shy, mumbling and stuttering, and quiet side of his lady. "It's about the picture, I guess, and I was kind of worried about how you'd react to it."

Chat Noir's green eyes flickered before he stiffened and fixed his posture to be straight as a pin. A shade of crimson took to his cheeks as he forced back the need to kiss her senseless again.

"Uh…picture? Wh-What picture? I know of no picture. What picture do you speak of, M'Lady?" the cat-boy stammered as he awkwardly folded his arms to act as casual as possible. Unfortunately for him, Ladybug didn't buy it and wasn't going to let him get away with another white lie…a silly and pointless one, at that.

"Oh, come _on_ ," Ladybug groaned, "You know what picture I'm talking about. It's all over the internet and probably the news…I _know_ you've seen it—I can see it in your eyes."

"Oh…" Chat Noir's voice trailed off at a high pitch, "You mean _that_ picture…"

"Yeah, _that_ one," the red-clad girl giggled as she rolled her eyes jokingly at the blond, "So, I would like to hear your thoughts on it." Ladybug's sudden burst of confidence wavered as she hugged herself and let her bluebell orbs trail to the floor.

"I…um…" Chat's cheeks burned, like a fire was embedded in his mask, "I mean, if you like him and he likes you…you should totally be with him, yeah, and you should go be with him and kiss him again and do all that 'lovey-dovey' stuff."

Ladybug shot him a confused look as to why he was okay with all of this…hadn't he just asked if she liked him romantically? She didn't want to question further why Chat Noir was all of a sudden okay with her kissing Adrien.

"Look, M'Lady," the blond spoke up again in a warm voice, "I still have feelings for you…but, if Adrien Agreste makes you happy, then of course I'm okay with you two being together. You're my partner, Ladybug, and one of my best friends…as long as you're happy, I'm happy."

Chat Noir flashed a wide smile to the spotted heroine, only, it contained an element that Ladybug never really picked up on before: sincerity. His smile was always genuine to her, which made Ladybug feel much better about the whole kiss-photo-situation. However, her partner's reassurance didn't help calm her about the fact that Adrien's image was still at risk.

"Well, children," Master Fu chimed in. Both Ladybug and Chat Noir had forgotten the elderly man was there until he piped up again, "Perhaps now we can pick up where we left off. Stand at attention and we can begin."

* * *

 **Thank you so much for taking the time to read my story! Please leave a review about what you like, what you don't like, what you want to see, and any predictions you have for future chapters. Reading what you lovelies have to say brings a smile to my face every time!**

 **That's all for now, toodles! :D**


	27. Chapter 27: Understanding Feelings

Hello beautiful people! Oh deary me, it's been over a month since I've updated anything and I greatly apologize. I was busy volunteering so I had little free time to write but I hit a massive writer's block. I rewrote this chapter several times until I was satisfied with it...so enjoy! :3

* * *

 **Chapter 27**

* * *

Adrien paced back and forth in his room, mumbling to himself about his girl predicament. His mind just had to wander back to Marinette…for the past five hours he was with his lady, and Master Fu, but he was still with _Ladybug_. It was nearly impossible for him not to spontaneously combust upon seeing her. Their fiery, passionate kiss still left tingles on his lips and he craved for more of that contact when he stood next to her. If only she knew he, Adrien, was Chat Noir beneath the mask, then the blond wouldn't have to worry about his predicament.

At one point when they had sparred, Adrien managed to pin the red-clad heroine to the mat and it took every ounce of control in him not to kiss her again. Of course, Plagg's only take-away from today's training was the fact that the blond didn't go as easy on his partner. The cat kwami wouldn't stop cheering about how Adrien "was a man" for actually trying to beat up his lady; of course, that logic didn't make sense to Adrien. Shouldn't a proper gentleman _not_ try to punch a lady?

One would think the model's train of thought would stay on the red and black-spotted track, but Adrien found his thoughts then drifting back to the shy girl who sat behind him in class. At this point, Plagg's obnoxious chatter became too much for Adrien to bare and surpassed impossible to ignore.

"Plagg!" the blond finally turned around to face his kwami with annoyance written in his sun-kissed face.

Just as Adrien rotated his lithe body towards the floating, black creature, a knock sounded from his bedroom door. Plagg zipped into his chosen's shirt pocket as a hiding spot while Adrien called out to allow whomever was at the door to enter.

Immediately following the blond's invitation to the knock at his room, his door swung open. The person Adrien initially thought would be standing in the doorway, wasn't the person he figured it would be. No, instead of Nathalie casting a shadow into his bedroom, it was the infamous Gabriel Agreste.

"F-Father," Adrien gasped as he staggered back a few steps. Something important must have been going on because it was a rarity these days that the famous designer personally spoke to Adrien.

"Adrien," the older, blond man sternly spoke, not a drop of warmth in his sharp voice or his eyes that were colder than ice, "It has come to my attention that you have developed a relationship with our city's…hm… _savior_."

"Heh…um, which one, Father?" Adrien croaked, forcing a chuckle to hide his sudden panic.

"Don't be foolish, Adrien, I reared you better than to be so immature," Gabriel scolded in his monotone voice, "You know very well I'm speaking of Ladybug."

"I can explain-"

"I will not have you interrupt me while I'm not finished speaking," the designer interjected, raising a hand to cut off his son, "Now, before you attempt to explain your actions, I will let you know that I'm not upset at this turn of events. I'm quite pleased, to say the least."

"Really?" Adrien's emerald eyes widened in disbelief as his gaped at his father. Surely, he misheard his father…hardly anything he ever did pleased him, and once in a blue moon, he might have gotten lucky enough to make Gabriel feel proud when it pertained to business.

"Yes," the blond man's face was like stone, expressionless and unmoving, "And I want you to have her as a guest for dinner this week sometime. Being that she is a protector of Paris, I understand she may be busy so I expect you to arrange a meeting in order for me to… _privately_ speak with her."

Gabriel turned on his heel to exit his son's room, his hands neatly folded behind his back as began to walk with purpose out of the lavish room. Adrien perked his head up as his eyes followed his father's figure leave.

"Um, Father?" the blond dared to pipe up, causing the designer to stop in his tracks.

"That is all," Gabriel remarked, not bothering to look at Adrien.

Without another word, Gabriel swiftly exited the model's bedroom, leaving Adrien in a whirlpool of thoughts. A few moments after the door shut, Plagg took the liberty of flying out of Adrien's shirt. He performed several loops in the air as he boasted with laughter and continued to zip around the large room.

"Since when is Mr. Control-Freak 'quite pleased' with anything rebellious you do?" Plagg snickered as he came to a halt in front of the blond's face.

Adrien narrowed his eyes at the cat-like creature and folded his arms.

"Kissing Ladybug wasn't rebellious, it was…well, I think it was…love," the model boy mused as he sighed dreamily, "My love for Ladybug isn't rebellious by any means, Plagg, and if my father approves of me kissing her, then I'd gladly do it again!"

"So if _Ladybug_ isn't 'rebellious'," the black kwami rolled his eyes, "Is _Marinette_?"

The blond stiffened his posture so that he looked like a pole with a face. His eyes nearly popped out of their sockets as his jaw dropped at Plagg's comment. Of course, that cheese-loving cat just carried on laughing in the model's face without a hint of quitting anytime soon.

Adrien's face morphed into a calmer one that was deep in thought, his mind soon flooded with the image of the sweet girl in his grade. While he loved Ladybug from the bottom of his heart, he couldn't help but to think of Marinette. Sure, the blue-haired girl was far too afraid to say two words to him…but as Chat Noir, he had gotten to know Marinette in a way that he would have never imagined. Perhaps that was why he kissed her when he felt so heartbroken…maybe it was because Adrien felt safe with her and felt a similar connection between the two of them.

The model had made up his mind: he had to go see her…he needed to talk to someone…his princess was just the person he needed to be in company with. He could also apologize to her and let Marinette know that they would only have a strictly platonic relationship. That should ease her thoughts about the two of them…especially after the events that transpired after the dance on Miraculous Day.

"Plagg, claws out," Adrien suddenly broke the silence.

* * *

"So, you never told me how training was," Alya smirked as she took a seat on Marinette's chaise with her legs crossed and hands folded neatly in her lap.

The blue-eyed girl lounged on the end of the cushion, next to the brunette. She was sprawled out on her back on half of the chaise, exhausted after how Master Fu worked Chat Noir and herself. Marinette groaned in response to her best friend's questioning stare and started to slump off the edge of the furniture.

"Sorry, I keep having to tell myself you know about that now," the bluenette mumbled, still staring at the ceiling. She let a small smile split across her face as she looked over to the girl in glasses, happy knowing that she no longer had to hide that part of her life.

"Yeah, I picked up on that when you made, like, the lamest excuse ever to ditch me after lunch…I can't believe I ever bought that kind of crazy nonsense from you. I mean, come on, you had to measure a tutu for a dog's singing competition?" Alya giggled, "You should've seen your face when I reminded you."

"Yeah, very funny," the aspiring designer mumbled, "Mmm...My everything is sore…and Chat Noir was really good today. He was sure to watch out for my shoulder, though, which is pretty much totally healed."

"Shoulder…?" the brunette in glasses repeated with confusion.

"Yeah, when he dropped me during our _completely embarrassing_ 'spotlight dance'," Marinette muttered, "Be glad you missed that, because it hurt so bad and I just wanted to punch that stupid cat!" Marinette balled her hands into fists and shook them vigorously in the air, evoking a laugh from her best friend.

"Well, technically you punched him three times that night…," Alya quipped with a raised eyebrow before clearing her throat and mumbling, " _With your lips_."

"I heard that!" Marinette chortled but hushed herself for being too loud, as she didn't want to wake her slumbering kwami.

She didn't know where Tikki had gone off to, but the little red bug was good at hiding from others when she needed time to herself to recharge—especially after hours of training. Marinette felt horribly for making the red, bug-like creature keep up her transformation for several hours straight while she got thrown around and did some throwing around, herself.

"Hey, you're the one who kissed your partner!" Alya jokingly fired back, "Which makes no sense, because, why would you kiss a guy you don't like in that way? I mean, you don't even know who he really is, girl! At least _I_ know who Nino is…you could say I know a lot of him-"

" _ALYA!_ I'd rather you _not_ talk about that, please! Besides, for the thousandth time, I don't like Chat Noir," the blue-haired girl rolled her eyes in disgust, " He's still a player! A flirt! He doesn't actually like me as Marinette or Ladybug…it's just an act…he's like that with every girl he comes across."

Alya didn't buy her best friend's argument, swearing Marinette actually did love that cat-boy…to a degree. In fact, Marinette hardly bought the words she spoke, either—while she hated lying, she didn't want to fully accept the cold, hard truth she started considering the other night. The young designer simply folded her arms and sighed dramatically at the conversation, not wanting to discuss it again like the blogger had tried to over lunch.

"Well, you could have at least let him down easy if his feelings toward you as Ladybug were authentic," the brunette offered.

"Truth beam, remember?" Marinette replied dryly with a frown pulling at her lips, "It's not like it was my choice to be so brutally honest during the dance-"

Both girls jumped and let out tiny shrills when a small tap sounded at the window behind the chaise. Marinette sat straight up, nearly losing her balance and falling off the seat entirely, while Alya leapt off the chaise and took several lunges forward out of instinct. Being a journalist and always close to the battlefield had definitely taught her a thing or two when it came to quick reflexes to avoid danger. The bluenette, on the other hand, whipped her head around after she steadied herself and squinted at her window. She just made out the figure of her partner clinging to the side of the house in the growing darkness.

Marinette breathed in and out slowly in annoyance as she lugged herself over to the window and opened it for the black-clad boy. As soon as Chat Noir jumped into her room he smirked at Marinette before getting on one knee and kissing her hand. Marinette instantly felt electricity shoot up from the back of her hand where his lips touched so she irritably pulled her arm back to her side.

"Ah, Rum Tum Tugger, may I ask why you're here…again?" Marinette groaned, suppressing an amused giggle, and subtly rolled her eyes at Chat.

"Don't you mean Rum _Tom_ Tugger, Princess?" Chat Noir quipped as he placed his hands cheekily on his hips.

"I don't follow," she voiced as she cocked her head to the side.

"You know, 'cause we joked about my name being Tom," the blond laughed.

"Sure, Kitty," Marinette rolled her eyes and tried to hold back the laughter climbing up her throat and begging to be pushed past her lips.

Chat Noir had no problem letting his belly-laughter taint the air of her attic bedroom at the funny—well, it wasn't even _that_ funny to Marinette—interaction. During his fit of chuckles, the blond let his emerald eyes trail over to Alya, who was gaping at the two by the window.

He quickly fixed his posture and attempted to casually lean against the pink wall, only his hand slipped and he started to tumble forward. Luckily, Marinette caught him mid-fall and helped him to stand upright again. Chat Noir would have commented on her cat-like reflexes, but was too busy choking on his words at the shock of seeing Alya.

Alya simply grinned back at the two, innocently, but Marinette picked up on the underlying idea developing in her friend's mind. She wouldn't hear the end of Paris' cat hero coming to visit her at the break of nightfall yet again.

"I'm terribly sorry for coming unexpectedly," Chat Noir spoke up politely then whispered to Marinette, "I wasn't aware you had company." He collected himself and, as calmly as he could, walked over to Alya and took her hand. Alya raised her nose to the air and closed her eyes, expecting a kiss on the hand as well, but popped opened them when all she received was a handshake. "Hi, there, I'm Chat Noir. You run the Ladyblog, right?"

"Yes, I do," the brunette shook her head free of her expectations and smiled at the superhero. One would think Alya was upset about not being treated like Marinette when he greeted her, but she was more than ecstatic that it proved the blue-haired girl's theory about Chat wrong.

"I must say, I'm a _bug_ fan of your work," the blond winked before turning to face Marinette and made his way over to her.

"I can step out if you want to talk or _something_ for a minute…or maybe twenty," Alya slyly grinned and gave Marinette a hidden 'thumbs up'.

"N-No, no, you don't have to," Chat Noir waved is hands in front of himself to exaggerate his statement, "I'll just take my leave."

"Don't you want to talk to Marinette?" the brunette cooed, "I mean, you came all this way, surely you'd like just a few minutes…or an hour depending on how much you want to _say_."

Marinette's face flushed red and she balled her hands into fists at her side. The blue-haired girl to the liberty of shooting her friend the death glare as a warning to stop before something bad happens. Of course, Alya only made herself look innocent with her pout saying 'I'm trying to help'—in her own way, she kind of was. However, the crinkle by her hazel orbs that carried mischief within them made Marinette rethink how 'helpful' she really was being.

"Well…if you insist-"

"Th-That's qu-quite alright!" Marinette interrupted, "I'm sure whatever Chat's here for isn't that important…he'll be leaving now."

The blond looked perplexed at Marinette, but returned his face to neutral with a warm smile. He overdramatically bowed and snuck a wink at the blue-haired girl who stood by the window, gesturing for him to leave.

"Of course, Princess…and Alya," the cat-boy sat on the ledge of the window and gripped onto the pane for balance, "I would hate to intrude on girls' night, anyway."

He smirked at Marinette one last time before slipping out of her bedroom and disappearing into the darkness. In the time that Chat Noir was there, the night sky became completely engulfed in shadows. The bluenette didn't waste any time shutting and latching the window closed before leaning against the glass, sighing out of disarray.

"That had to be one of the most entertaining things I've ever seen," Alya chortled, "Wouldn't you say so, _Princess_?"

"Please don't start on that," Marinette groaned as she flopped down on the chaise on her belly. The blogger sat down, legs crossed, on the edge of the cushion as a way of saying 'I need more information'. "Chat Noir gave me that nickname when he helped me with the whole Evillustrator thing."

"I don't see him giving pet names to every girl in Paris…just you and, well, _you_ ," the brunette added matter of factly before waiting a beat and continuing, "You say Chat Noir is a flirt, right?"

"Yes, an alley cat who flirts with everyone," Marinette deadpanned as she craned her neck to face her best friend, that lie to herself tasting bitter on her tongue.

"For a flirt, he only flirted with you. Between the nickname, kiss on the hand, the countless winks, _and_ late night visits?" Alya counted off on her fingers as a visual for the young designer.

"Oh, please," the bluenette scoffed, denying the words her friend spoke, "He's like that with all the girls in Paris."

"Then why wasn't he like that with me, huh? Am I not a girl in Paris?" the blogger wiggled her eyebrows and placed her hands on her hips, "Face it, M, Chat Noir only flirts with you because _he likes you_."

"But I-" Marinette was about to correct Alya and blurt out that what she was saying was far from accurate. However, once the blue-haired girl pieced everything together, something just clicked in her mind and her face froze. Her shoulders slumped in defeat and she rolled her eyes in defeat. "Oh, great," she muttered sarcastically.

* * *

 **Thank you so much for taking the time to read this, please leave a review about what you like, what you don't like, what you want to see happen, or any predictions you have for future chapters. I love to read what you lovelies have to say!**

 **Until next chapter, toodles! :D**


	28. Chapter 28: Accepting Feelings

Hello beautiful people! I'll be honest, this chapter would've been up yesterday...but I fell asleep in the middle of posting it...no joke. Well, it's here now for you to indulge on! But before that, there was a guest who left a lengthy review on last chapter that brought up some good ideas and made me literally laugh out loud as well. Thank you, my darling, for that review (I would private message you, but since you were a guest...yeah...) Anyway, on with the update, enjoy! :3

* * *

 **Chapter 28**

* * *

"Okay, _maybe_ I just didn't want to believe that Chat Noir liked me like that because I only see him as my best friend—after you, of course—and as my partner," Marinette finally whined to Alya after a long discussion about the feline superhero. She knew she couldn't get out of the long-awaited conversation much longer so she finally caved in. "I pretty much know he's not a flirt…I mean _you_ say so, _Adrien_ says so, even _Chat freaking Noir_ says so, himself!"

"Thank you for accepting the obvious," Alya giggled as she wrapped her arm around the distraught girl's shoulders.

The two high school students sat on the floor of the pink room and used the chaise behind them as a back rest. Without any warning, Marinette pushed up off the floor and strut over to her desk where she scooped up the box her diary was kept in. The blue-haired girl unlocked the device and plucked the small notebook from the spotted box as well as a silver band. She swiftly made her way back to the brunette and plopped down next to her, both items in hand. Marinette passed her diary to Alya while the bluenette twiddled the promise ring between her fingers.

"Isn't this your diary? Why are you giving it to me?"

"I write down literally everything in there," Marinette answered, not peeling her eyes away from the silver ring, "It has a detailed entry of every day of my life, especially as Ladybug. You can read about what I probably forgot to mention when transformed as well as all the stuff that happens."

"But…isn't your other personal stuff written in this?" the aspiring journalist inquired whilst studying the cover.

"You're my best friend, Alya, I trust you," Marinette smiled through her words with sincerity as she continued to stare down at the band of silver, "Besides, you know everything about me anyway…you can practically read my mind and I'll prove it. What am I thinking of right now? On three: one, two three-"

"Adrien as a hamster!" both girls shouted with grins slapped on their faces, "Jinx!"

The girl in glasses opened to a random page of the book and began reading as Marinette rubbed the silver band between her thumb and forefinger. Alya looked over her shoulder to see the fretful teenager gazing at the promise ring that was gifted to her just two nights ago. There was a far-off look glossed over her bluebell eyes as they traced the ring.

"Girl, you've failed to tell me why you're looking at that piece of metal as if it's gonna tell you where Hawkmoth is," Alya commented but didn't bother suppressing her growing laughter at her best friend's actions.

"It's just something Chat Noir gave me the night of the dance…before I totally broke his heart," Marinette tossed the ring to the brunette, who caught it in mid-air, "He said it was a promise ring."

" _Girl_ ," the blogger began with wide eyes, "I've seen this kind of ring before…Nino pointed it out to me when we went shopping one time. As a joke, he said he would've gotten me this promise ring but it was way too expensive. Chat Noir must really love Ladybug if he went so far as to buy this for you."

"Oh, sure, go ahead and make me feel even worse about the whole thing," the blue-haired girl pouted as she sunk down lower to the floor.

Although, she couldn't help to think about Alya's words…if that silver band was as expensive as she said, then how in the world did Chat Noir get his claws on it? First the fancy suit, then the rose, and now the ring? How had Marinette not wondered about that before…how had she not put more thought into how that alley cat could afford all those things? Sure, a rose may not cost much, but the promise ring tied to the stem was definitely worth something.

 _The rose_ , Marinette mused as she turned her head to focus on the red flower that stood tall and healthy next to the pink one that had lost nearly all of its petals after being crushed under she and Adrien. Marinette sighed and glanced over to Alya who seemed all too focused on one of Marinette's diary entries.

"Girl!" Alya shrieked, slightly startling Marinette, "I knew it!"

The brunette began victoriously waving the notebook in front of a pair of blue eyes as she continued squirming with delight. Marinette calmed her racing heart as nothing bad happened to Alya like she initially thought, but when she went to read what the blogger was so ecstatic about, her diary was pulled away. Alya clutched onto the journal with a death grip and she squealed at the page.

"Are you going to tell me what that was all about or…" Marinette laughed as she straightened her posture and attempted to read over Alya's shoulder. The dark-haired girl's plan was foiled when the girl in glasses hid the entry from sight once again.

"You totally admitted you like Chat Noir in this," Alya cheered, "I _knew_ it!"

"Hey, hey, hey! I did no such thing!" the young designer pouted as she folded her arms and turned up her nose at her friend's accusation. Only, Alya's accusation was more of a fact.

"It says right here that you would consider Chat as a love interest, if not for Adrien," the brunette flashed the page to Marinette for a split second before enveloping the diary snugly in her arms.

"Key words: _if not for Adrien_ ," Marinette defended, "You know my heart belongs to him…I mean, we're meant to be together. I like him…he likes me…it's a match made in heaven!"

"Girl, you can't say two words to him," Alya scoffed as she relaxed her tense shoulders from hiding the diary page.

"But as Ladybug, not only can I say more than two words to him, but I can kiss Adrien, too," the bluenette offered before she slumped lower to the floor with a frown tugging at her lips, "Something about putting on that mask gives me the extra boost of confidence to talk to him and more that I could never do as just Marinette."

"Marinette, while it's good to have that confidence, parading around as Ladybug in front of Adrien isn't showing him the real you. The you that I know, that Nino knows, your parents, and even Chat Noir," Alya smiled brightly as she wrapped an arm around the petite girl's shoulders and pulled her close into a side-hug, "It's great that you found a way to talk to Adrien, but he needs to see you as Marinette, too."

"If you're suggesting that I reveal my identity to him, that's out of the question," Marinette frantically waved her arms in front of her and vigorously shook her head in defiance. There was no way she would let anyone find out that she was Ladybug…well, anyone _else_. "Yeah, I maybe kinda sorta want him to just a teensy weensy bit know that I'm Ladybug. But, I can't risk Adrien's safety just for my benefit. I want him to like me as more than just some girl behind a mask that he idolizes, you know? But at what cost? For him to become a target for Hawkmoth? He probably already is because of that stupid, _amazingly amazing_ kiss…I just love him too much to put him in danger of knowing my identity."

Alya looked long and hard at her best friend, somewhat flabbergasted at the words that escaped her lips. The brunette had to admit that she was impressed at how mature Marinette sounded about handling her crush and _possible_ other crush. Speaking of that possible other crush…

"Is that why you don't want Chat Noir to know? Your identity, I mean," Alya questioned, catching Marinette off guard.

"I…I wouldn't say it's because I _love_ him—I mean, I love him but as my friend…as my partner…not romantically… _I don't think_ ," Marinette started to mumble to the point that the blogger couldn't understand what she said, especially that last part. The blue-haired girl began to nervously scratch her head as she thought of how to word what she wanted to say next. "Okay, so I don't want him to be put in danger for knowing who I am—for the same reason as Adrien—but not because I love him the same way. I guess you could say friend-love versus romance-love? I felt the same way about you knowing I'm Ladybug."

Alya smirked at the bluenette and was about to call Marinette out for admitting she loved her partner to a degree when her phone buzzed. The girl in glasses swiftly pulled out her cell phone and opened up a text that was from Nino. She quickly read through what he sent before she lifted her hazel eyes that gleamed with delight behind her glasses' frames.

"Okay, get this," Alya started, barely able to contain her giddiness, "So, Nino said it's the last weekend for the pool near his house and he invited us, two lovely ladies, and a Mr. Agreste to go swimming tomorrow! How perfect is that to officially end the summer and kick off the school year?"

"Seriously?" Marinette's bluebell orbs lit up as well and she perked up upon hearing the text, "Adrien? At the pool? I bet he looks _so_ good in a swimsuit! Wait…wait, no—how am I gonna talk to him? I mean, for one, I turn into a pile of goo whenever I try to say 'hi' to him. _But_ , two, only I know that we kissed…can you imagine how hard it would be for me to not to just pin him down and kiss him again?"

"Girl…chill…" the brunette giggled, "All you need to do is use that 'Ladybug confidence' as Marinette. You're already strong and confident without that mask, girl. Simple."

The blue-haired Parisian propped her elbow on her knee to support her cheek in her dainty hand as she thought over her friend's advice. She didn't think the outcome would be too great without actually having to transform into Ladybug as a confidence-boost with Adrien.

"Forget it, Alya, I'm not gonna show up as my alter-ego to the pool-"

"You're just as much Ladybug, as Ladybug is you," Alya cut off Marinette, "Just pretend you're transformed and I bet you'll feel way better about talking to Adrien."

"That's…actually a good idea. Thanks, Alya," Marinette cheered as she embraced her friend in a tight squeeze, "I'm glad you know about all this."

Alya merely chuckled at the slim girl's remark as she pulled away from the hug. Her tan face was written with a loving warmth and a hint of mischief that only slightly worried Marinette.

"How did you even manage without me before?" the blogger joked, "Ooh, bonus idea, just now! I know exactly what will help with Adrien tomorrow…"

* * *

 **I just wanted to mention that my reason for Marinette not wanting anyone to know about her identity is NOT because she's afraid of people being disappointed it's her. In my opinion, that seems like an over-used concept and it just doesn't seem like Marinette's character to me. Anyway, I figured going off of the show's episodes where the whole 'finding out the identity' thing pops up, it came off to me that Marinette is more concerned for the safety of those whom she loves and the danger that comes with knowing. I just wanted to make it clear that Marinette isn't worried about what others think of her in my story nor if Adrien would 'be disappointed' it's her. Adrien cares about his loved ones' safety as well, but his immense love for Ladybug (Marinette) overpowers his want for her safety...mosty because he knows she can take care of herself. Marinette, on the other hand, doesn't want to take any chances. The same thing goes for her confidence. Marinette doesn't magically become confident and such when transformed, the transformation only amplifies all of the amazing 'Ladybug' qualities she already possesses.**

 **Thank you so, so,** ** _so_** **much for reading my story when you could've re-watched Season 1 again (because it's the only thing that keeps us sane until Season 2). I greatly appreciate all of your support, as well, whether it's following, favoriting, or leaving a review. Speaking of, please take the time to leave a review about what you like, what you don't like, what you want to see happen, or any predictions you have for future chapters. I love reading what you lovelies have to say and it brings a smile to my face each and every time!**

 **Until next chapter, toodles! :D**


	29. Chapter 29: Hot and Cold

Hello beautiful people! Yes, I know I haven't updated anything in a long time, but I haven't had a lot of time to write since school started back up for me about a month ago. I have, however, seen the leaked footage for Season 2 and I seriously have no idea how I'll survive until then. Speaking of Season 2, once that comes out, my fanfic story will officially be an AU taking place after Season 1.

That's all, darlings, so enjoy this longer chapter! :3

* * *

 **Chapter 29**

* * *

"Alya, I don't know if I like this," Marinette whined as the two girls approached a black gate. Marinette wore a semi-sheer black cover-up that matched Alya's and they each carried beach bags filled with their towels, sunscreen, water, their phones, and in Marinette's case, a kwami. The sun emitted golden rays down upon the two girls and made them instantly regret wearing black out in the heat. Marinette couldn't help but wonder how Chat Noir didn't wear a crown of sweat on his head in the sun. "I mean…for one, I'm _dying_ …and two, it's a bit obvious, don't you think?"

"Girl, you need to relax. This is your day off from training and kicking butt as Ladybug, so ease up," Alya panted, feeling the same intensity of the sun as Marinette, "Besides, it'll totally help with talking to Adrien, trust me. Plus, it was a two for one sale for our matching set and cover-ups."

"Did they have to be black? I'm gonna sweat my own pool in a matter of minutes!" the blue-haired girl chirped. Both she and Alya had been waiting for about five minutes on the side walk at the entrance gates for Nino's public pool. They didn't have passes to unlock the electronic gate, so they were relying on the young DJ to let them in. Marinette was starting to grow equally impatient as she was sweaty and piped up as well with, "He said he'd meet us at noon—noon happened like ten minutes ago."

"Okay, well maybe he said 'noon' when he really meant a quarter past noon because he knows you always run late and maybe he figured if he told you to meet him at noon, you'd automatically be fifteen minutes late but actually right on time?" Alya offered with an unsure smile, "I mean, _maybe_."

"I can't believe you…" Marinette sighed, her mouth curling up at the corners, "There is only ever one reason I'm late, and you know why."

Alya giggled along with her just as Tikki popped her head out of Marinette's beach bag, a half-eaten cookie in paw. Her mouth was obviously still full as crumbs fell from her smile when she attempted to speak up.

"Last time I checked, sleeping in isn't a heroic duty, Marinette," the red being chimed in.

"The only reason I oversleep is because of staying up late to patrol as Ladybug," Marinette playfully rolled her eyes at the kwami. Before Marinette could continue, the sound of approaching footsteps caused her to perk up and stiffen her posture just in time as the gates began to open. "Hide, Tikki," she whispered, alerting the petite kwami to duck back into the beach bag.

"Yo, dudettes!" Nino called as he jogged up to the two girls. He was wearing cobalt blue swim trunks that had a red and orange geometric pattern down the sides that coordinated with his signature, red baseball cap. Not only was he not wearing his glasses, but he was bare-foot and had a white towel slung over his left shoulder. "Dang, Alya, you look hot," the DJ purred as he gave a lazy wink to the brunette.

Alya glowered at the young Parisian teen, causing his smug expression to falter and grow into one of pure terror. It didn't surprise Marinette that her best friend induced fear in her…well… _kind of_ boyfriend…mostly since they weren't quite exclusive yet. The blue-haired girl merely giggled quietly at Nino's drop in confidence, hoping not to draw too much attention to herself.

"O-Of course, by 'hot' I-I-I mean 'sweaty' because you look kinda sweaty—not like the gross kind of sweaty, just…you look warm…?" Nino stammered as he motioned for the girls to start walking in through the entrance.

"Well, Marinette and I were only getting dried out by the sun for about ten minutes because _someone_ wasn't here," Alya dryly commented as the three of them made their way down a windy path that lead to the pool.

"Sorry, I was helping Adrien," the brunet quickly replied, looking over his shoulder to look back at the two girls behind him, "The poor dude didn't know how to put on sunscreen, heh. Perks of being a famous model: others do stuff for you. He eventually got the hang of it after I showed him, though. "

Marinette's cheeks instantly burned at the thought of Adrien shirtless and lathering on sunscreen. She hadn't even seen him yet but she already knew that she was monumentally screwed. At this point, the blue-haired girl completely blocked out the conversation between the two tanner teenagers.

Marinette hadn't even realized they made it to the rows of lawn chairs that lined the oblong pool with multiple curves. She snapped out of her thought-provoked trance to glance around the empty vicinity.

"Um, Nino?" Marinette questioned, grabbing the boy's attention, "Where is everyone? There's no one here."

"Oh…about that…" the DJ awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck as he plastered on a cheesy smile, "The pool actually closed last weekend but I'm pretty tight with the lifeguard so he said we could use it for the day until they cover it up."

"So, it's just us? As in, there isn't a lifeguard here?" the young designer panicked, "What if I start drowning or something? I'm not the best swimmer so if I die, it'd be on your hands, mister."

Marinette waved pointed a finger at Nino jokingly as she set her bag down on the first lawn chair. Alya did the same, sliding off her flip flops by the chair next to Marinette's, then stood by her best friend with a look in her hazel eyes that agreed with the bluenette.

"Oh, don't worry 'bout that," Nino chuckled, "Adrien knows CPR. Wait…Adrien! Bro, get over here! They're here!" The brunet cupped his hands around his mouth like a megaphone and turned to face the pool.

Marinette swore she saw movement beyond the rocks that rested between two curves where the pool pinched in. For a community pool, she had to admit it was one of the nicest ones she'd seen…especially with all the greenery, the large, decorative rocks, _and_ the two slides that mirrored the diving boards. However, none of the scenery mounted to the figure that started to emerge from the crystal-blue waters.

First, she saw a mass of blond hair with water weighing it down to shag over a pair of unmistakable emerald eyes. Then, Marinette took in his lean yet muscular build and toned physique with trails of water dripping down from his shoulders to his chest to his abs, all wrapped in a layer of warm, sun-kissed skin. Her bluebell eyes traced down his body but stopped once she reached the band of his orange swim trunks.

Marinette quickly averted her gaze, screaming on the inside but only madly blushing on the outside. Seeing Adrien almost fully exposed caused her system to start shutting down. It all happened in slow motion: Adrien climbing up the platform steps out of the pool and trotting over to the three of them, smiling at her first. The image of the young model giving her CPR made Marinette's reddened cheeks simmer and glow a vibrant scarlet.

"Hey, girls," the model greeted.

He looked at Marinette for a split-second, an unreadable expression hidden behind his eyes, but he quickly redirected his attention between Alya and Nino. Just one look at Marinette made his heartrate quicken, mostly because their kiss still haunted him. Or rather, their _several kisses_ from his heartbroken night. Just one look at Marinette made him want to apologize for leading her on, so to speak, but he couldn't while he wasn't Chat Noir.

Marinette had indirectly told Adrien as Chat that the whole kissing thing didn't mean anything because she liked someone else—but it _did_ mean something to him…he just didn't know what. That just made Adrien wonder even more who it was that his classmate had feelings for. He already took himself out of the equation because that just didn't make sense to him. Why would Marinette like him of all people?

"So, I'm glad you guys could come. Nino said because his idea was last-minute that you wouldn't be able to make it, but I told him that you guys would come. Right, Nino?" the blond spoke as he grinned from ear to ear.

"Oh-ho-ho, _yeah_! And since we have the pool to ourselves, we can do stuff like this!" Nino threw his towel down to the ground, not even bothering to lay it nicely on a chair, and he tossed his red cap on top of the crumpled heap of white cloth. The brunet dashed up to the edge of the pool before he leapt up in the air whilst tucking in his knees and wrapping his arms around them. As soon as Nino hit the water, a splash of liquid crystals shot off in every direction and hit the three others' feet, even though they were a relatively safe distance from the edge of the pool. "Come on in, dudes!" he hollered from the pool.

Adrien wasted no time in jumping in after his best bud and calling out 'cannonball' once he submerged himself into the water as well. Marinette could feel each faint freckle on her cheeks heating up, so she looked away to see Alya pulling her black cover-up over her head. The brunette tossed the bundled up fabric on top of her beach bag and whipped her glasses off, neatly placing them on top of her cover-up. Alya took a moment to pose and show off her black bikini with lime green straps that tied around her neck and back on the top part and two bows on either hip for the bottoms. There was a small golden bell in the center of the two black triangles across her chest with lime stitching creeping out in three lines on either side of the top to emulate whiskers. Alya jiggled her eyebrows at Marinette before turning to head towards the water's edge.

Of course, Nino couldn't help but ogle at Alya as she lasciviously descended the steps leading into the pool, but that only caused her to narrow her eyes at him. The DJ was quick to put an end to his gawking by audibly gulping, queuing Adrien and Marinette laugh along with Alya.

The blue-haired girl sat herself down at the edge of one of the chairs, a small smile splitting across her face. She enjoyed taking in the hilarity of the interaction between her friends—they never failed to make her laugh and bring a warmth to her heart, even on one of her gray days.

"Marinette!" Adrien called out to her, snapping the designer out of her gleeful thoughts, "Aren't you coming in?"

The bluenette could see the slight disappointment in the blond model's peridot eyes; it was swimming around in those emerald orbs and practically begged for her to join.

"I-I…um…up here stay…r-right chair," Marinette stuttered as she shakily patted the lawn chair on either side of her crossed legs. When she saw Adrien's cheery face falter a moment, she rushed to speak up and give a proper excuse. "It's just…just…I can't swim that well and-"

"I promise I won't let anything bad happen to you," Adrien spoke gently, drifting towards the edge of the pool where Marinette sat.

His voice was so warm and calming and trustworthy and smooth as honey that the teenage girl just _had_ to join him. However, Marinette feared that if she were to get too close to him, she would press her lips against his for God knows how long.

"Yeah! Come on, Marinette!" Alya cheered from a few strokes behind the blond, a devilish grin upon her face. Marinette's eyes grew wide and her cheeks flushed once again; her thoughts raced with the possibilities of what her best friend was possibly planning.

"Mar-i-nette! Mar-i-nette! Mar-i-nette!" Nino began chanting from the blogger's side, pumping his fist in the air each time he called out a syllable of her name.

Marinette had to make a choice. Either way, it would be against her favor. Yes, she wanted to go hang out with everyone and have a good time in the water, but that decision had its own pros and cons as opposed to doing the opposite.

Pro: if she went in the pool, she got to be with her friends…one of them being Adrien…a _shirtless_ Adrien. That pro had its own con—yes, being close Adrien would be a huge plus, but at the same time, that could prove difficult. Marinette already wanted to kiss him again, but now that he was in nothing but swim trunks? Oh, God, she needed help.

Con: if she went in the pool, there was a chance she would drastically fail at doing something as simple at the doggy paddle, thus, embarrassing herself in front of her crush and never being able to show her face again. However, this con had its own pro, too; should Marinette start drowning, Adrien knew CPR and would most likely be the one to give her mouth to mouth.

That was it, the blue-haired girl had her mind made up to where she didn't even need to run through the pros and cons of staying where she was for the remainder of the time.

Slowly, Marinette rose to her feet from the lawn chair, a smile brushing against her lips as she shrugged in defeat. The young designer tried to suppress the laughter climbing the back of throat, but ultimately failed when the whoops from her friends caused the bubbling giggle to push past her teeth. She shuffled over to her beach bag and snuck a peek at the petite, red kwami tucked away with several cookies. Tikki gave the bluenette an encouraging smile and nod back when their blue eyes met.

Feeling a rush of confidence flood her system, the blue-haired girl kicked her flip-flops off and nudged them under her lawn chair. Marinette took a deep breath before pulling her cover-up over her head, making her twin tails bounce as she did so, and folded it neatly to place on top of her bag.

Her bikini was indeed a matching set with Alya's, only Marinette's top was red with black spots and black ties with a petite ladybug charm in the center where the two triangles met. Her swimsuit bottoms were all black with red bows on either hip, resembling her best friend's. As the bluenette meekly made her way to the water's edge, she caught a glimpse of Adrien's emerald stare burning into her.

Of course, why wouldn't he stare? The fabric hugged her skin just right—her smooth, soft skin that looked as if she were dipped in milk. Adrien knew his eyes were wandering every inch of her body like he was scanning for a clue. Although, the blond noted he let his gaze linger a smidge too long at her toned stomach and legs...her really long legs. That didn't stop Adrien from allowing his peridot eyes to follow her slim figure as she eased into the crystal-blue water.

"Cold, cold, cold, cold, _cold_!" Marinette jittered as she balled her fists up by her chin and kept her elbows tucked in by her sides. Adrien shook his head free of his sinful thoughts, his golden locks spraying out droplets of water every which way, one of those ways being Marinette. " _Gah_! Seriously?"

"Heh, sorry?" the model offered with a bewildered attempt at a smile, only he looked more like a deer in headlights.

"No, no, it's okay. I just need to get used to— _WAH_!" Marinette screeched mid-sentence as a tidal wave of water struck her from behind at the back of her head, neck, arms, and back. She whipped her body around as best she could with the pool's resistance and scowled at the brunet in blue swim shorts. "Nino!"

Nino flinched at the bluebell glare from his friend, turning to hide behind Alya with his hands clinging around her shoulders in fear. The DJ shook as Marinette stared him down so fiercely that he swore lasers shot from her eyes. As the girl started to push through the mass of water that slowed her actions, Alya let a snicker slip past her smirking lips.

"It wasn't me, M, it was her! I swear!" Nino gulped, furiously pointing to the brunette he used as a human shield.

"Alya! How could you?" Marinette called out, the joking smile shining through her eyes, "I thought we were best friends and you just go and betray me like that? Oh, you're gonna get it."

The blue-haired girl started to splash the cold water playfully at Alya, squealing as she called out false-angry battle cries. Nino didn't pick up on the all-in-good-fun fight between the girls, so he ended up swimming into the middle of the splashing. Although, it was more like slow walking rather than swimming being that they only stood in the shallow end of the pool. He sandwiched himself right where the waves of water struck him either side, causing him to frantically wave his arms about.

"Dudettes, chill!" Nino hollered in panic, still not aware of the playfulness behind the girls' fighting, "Let's not kill each other! We could, uh, talk about something! Like, um…Adrien! Adrien, buddy, remember what you called me about the other night?"

The blond searched his memory, trying to recall which phone call his DJ friend was referring to, but he couldn't place it. Adrien shrugged and shook his head 'no' as he made his way over to the three. The splashing had died down, making the pool less of a warzone as the mysterious conversation between Nino and Adrien peeked the two girls' interest.

"Well, I remember you totally freaking out over a girl and all," Nino boasted, "I told you to ask Alya or Marinette about it but I guess you forgot so I'll do the asking because, well, I'm curious, too."

"And what are you so curious about, Nino?" Alya smirked, having a slight idea where the conversation was headed. Even if it wasn't exactly what she was thinking, she felt it had to do with girl problems.

"Well, Adrien was flipping out about why some girl kissed him and didn't know why," Nino started casually but held back the chuckle climbing up his throat.

Adrien remembered exactly where Nino was going with this and stiffened. It had completely slipped his mind that he called Nino in a frenzy the night Marinette kissed him as Chat Noir. His cheeks began to burn as a bright red painted across his face as the memory flooded back into his brain. Adrien's eyes flickered to the bluenette but then back to Nino, thankful that she hadn't caught his flashing eyes as she was fixated on the DJ.

"So, he was going on about if a girl being on her…ahem… _shark week_ …would make her kiss a guy," Nino stifled a chuckle as he finished.

"Really? Well who's the girl that kissed him?" Alya egged on, winking subtly at Marinette.

The young designer hadn't understood the meaning behind her best friend's action until a few beats later when it hit her. Adrien must have called Nino the night she came to his window when Adrien kissed her as Ladybug. Marinette felt her heart flutter at the thought of Adrien being so taken aback by their little moment that he panicked to call Nino. While it may have been unsettling to a degree that the model was freaking out about the kiss, the overall satisfaction of what Marinette did to him overtook the worried feelings. _She_ did that to _him_ with just one kiss…granted, a very passionate kiss.

"Adrien didn't say who…" the brunet murmured in a falsely solemn voice.

"I said it was a-a-a _hypothetical_ situation, Nino," the blond spewed out thinking now was a better time than ever to jump in the conversation.

"Oh…gotcha…a 'hypothetical' girl kissed you…" Alya mused, a mischievous grin spread across her face, "Well, I can say that 'shark week', as Nino put it, shouldn't affect why Ladybug kissed you."

"Oh, okay—wait! I didn't say it was Ladybug," Adrien stammered, waving his hands outstretched in front of himself in shock of Alya's words. How had she known about Ladybug kissing him? Oh, right, the photo she posted on the Ladyblog.

"I knew you were talking about Ladybug!" Nino whooped with victory, "Why didn't you say it was her on Miraculous Day?"

"What?" Marinette hadn't realized it was her voice that spoke up, mostly from surprise.

She didn't kiss Adrien on Miraculous Day…she kissed him the day after on Friday. The sudden realization that the blond was talking about a different girl made her insides twist together and scrunch up. The butterflies in her stomach from before all fluttered away so that there was only an empty pit that weighed her down. Marinette blinked away the tears forming in her blue orbs and shook her head free of the heart-wrenching thoughts to the best of her ability. She looked around at the faces of her peers, and she remembered that she was the one who spoke up.

"I mean, um, I thought Ladybug kissed you on Friday…not, uh, Thursday," Marinette was adamant now about finding out who this other girl was that kissed Adrien, the love of her life that she believed loved her back, even if he loved her as Ladybug…but maybe he didn't if he was seeing another girl.

"Wait, dude, who'd you kiss then?" Nino blurted out just as confused as Marinette and Alya, who had been so sure he was talking about Marinette.

"No one, nobody…like I said, it was a hypothetical question," Adrien insisted, but found his gaze wandering back to Marinette. This time, however, he was unlucky—or lucky—enough to catch her bluebell eyes. They bored into each other's eyes for a good ten seconds that went unnoticed by the other two. Adrien could get lost in her sky orbs for hours, but it would be weird for him to just lock on her gaze for the rest of their afternoon. Apparently, the best way he could think of to break up the heavy tension between he and Marinette was to announce an idea for an activity to buy themselves with. "Wh-Why don't we play a game instead? Maybe Marco Polo? I've always wanted to try that with a few friends-"

"Better idea!" Alya interrupted with her hands on her hips and a smirk on her lips, "Let's play MFK."

"What's that?" Adrien questioned, drawing the attention of everyone. They all stared blankly at him until they remembered he had been homeschooled up until a year ago with little experience in what was considered teenage fun.

"Oh, my sweet, innocent child. Let Mama Alya explain."

* * *

 **Originally, this chapter was going to include the next two chapters as well, but that would be spoiling you with a 12,000 word chapter, and I've learned my lesson from spoiling my readers. But get ready for a…I guess you could call it a** ** _steamy_** **chapter for next update. ;)**

 **I want to thank you all so, so much for tuning in (and being patient with my random updates) so it would mean so much to me if you took the time to leave a review about what you like, what you don't like, what you want to see happen, or any predictions you have for future chapters. I love to read what you lovelies have to say.**

 **I also would like to put it out there that I'm putting a pause on my other fanfics for the time being. I will start posting chapters for my other stories either when I finish this one or get farther along with it. Thank you, again, from the bottom of my heart for supporting my works!**

 **Until next chapter, toodles! :D**

 ** _P.S. I am debating changing the name of this fanfic to something that I think would be more fitting...let me know what you think about that, too! :)_**


	30. Chapter 30: MFKill Me Please

Hello beautiful people! Tis I, back with another chapter and a super speedy update (because I'll be honest, I already had all of this already written as a 10,000 word chapter or something crazy like that). I decided, foolishly, that I would combine the next two chapters into one extra long one because this is _the thirtieth chapter!_ WHAT! Remember when I said this story would only be thirty chapters? Yeah, um...it's gonna be way more.

As a little author's note before you get to reading, pay attention to the little things, like the details in each chapter. Some of them are so small that they can be forgotten, heck, even I had to go back and reread my chapters to refresh my brain. If you have to, by all means, go back and reread the story because a lot of those tiny details will be crucial to the plot as it progresses.

To celebrate Chapter 30, enjoy this extra long (technically double) chapter! :3

* * *

 **Chapter 30**

* * *

"Oh, my sweet, innocent child. Let Mama Alya explain," the brunette snickered as she swung an arm around the blond's bare shoulders, "It's simple: there are three people you get to pick from. Each of us takes a turn assigning who we would do what to. Easy."

"Oh, that sounds fun," Adrien smiled, "But what are the things we would do to the people? Things like throwing them a party or making them laugh or something else nice?"

"Well-" Alya began proudly.

"Oh, dear God," Marinette muttered as she pinched her thumb and forefinger to the bridge of her nose.

"He's too pure to hear this," Nino whispered to himself.

"-you can either marry them, 'f' them, or kill them," the blogger finished with a devilish smile curling the corners of her mouth, "So, let's play!"

"Wait, _what_? Those are the options? There can't be anything else?" Adrien winced as he looked to each of his friends with pleading eyes.

He clearly was not prepared for that blow…but the fact that he had to assign three people to those fates? Yes, it was all pretend and all in good fun, but Adrien didn't know how he could ever choose.

"Alright, I declare our first three to be…hm…" Alya glanced at Marinette before a sinister sparkle in her hazel eyes caused the blue-haired girl to question what her friend had in mind, "Okay, MFK: Ladybug, Chat Noir, and…er…Hawkmoth, I guess. I'll go first! So, I definitely would kill Hawkmoth—no one needs that guy around—and I would totally marry Ladybug. I suppose that leaves Chat…so I guess I'll 'f' him."

Adrien swallowed hard at the idea of Alya _doing it_ with his masked self and shuddered at the thought, one he would most definitely not like to revisit. However, that led him to think about what he would do to himself.

 _Is it weird to 'f' yourself?_ he wondered but quickly snapped out of his curiosity once he heard Nino speaking.

"Dudes, I can't stand anymore," he whined, "Can we, like, go sit on the platform?"

The four agreed with simultaneous nods as they all swam to the extended platform along the curve of the pool by the steps. They sat in a circle with their legs crossed so that the water went up to their waists. Marinette sat in between Alya and Adrien but made sure she was closer to the brunette than the blond. Adrien didn't seem to notice as he watched Nino float down to sit in between he and Alya.

"Okay, so I think I'll kill Hawkmoth, duh, and I'd marry Chat Noir and 'f' Ladybug," Nino announced with a confident nod, "What about you, Dupain-Cheng?"

Marinette hadn't given much thought about where she would place herself, but Nino's decision to 'f' her transformed persona made her cringe. Not that she had anything against Nino, it was just that he was like a brother to her and one of her best friends so it didn't sit right with her. Of course, if it was Adrien, that'd be a different story.

"Mar-bear, you listening?" the DJ chortled whilst he snapped his finger in her direction several times, "MFK, girl, you're up."

"Oh, sorry, I zoned out," Marinette covered with a fake giggle, "I…don't know." _I don't want to 'f' Chat, he's my partner…my partner who just happens to have feelings for me that I may or may not reciprocate. Ugh! Is it weird to do it yourself?_ she pondered, _I mean…it's basically just ma-_

"Well, you gotta pick," Alya winked.

With that wink, Marinette knew exactly what the aspiring journalist wanted her to do: either 'f' her partner or marry him. Oh, she was good.

"Fine," Marinette deflated in defeat, slumping her shoulders as she left out a heavy sigh, "Since you guys did and it only makes sense, I'll kill Hawkmoth. I would, um, 'f' Ladybug," the blue-haired girl lifted her eyes to watch Alya's confused and somewhat disgusted face as she most likely didn't expect that answer. However, Marinette paused to grimace before continuing her final statement, but a victorious look that swam in Alya's hazel eyes proved there was no getting out of it. "So that leaves me to marry Chat," she mumbled, crossing her arms across her spotted chest.

"What was that, Marinette?" Alya chided, a sinister grin playing at her lips.

"I said I'd marry Chat Noir, okay?" the young designer blurted out before she blushed furiously and covered her mouth.

She wanted nothing but to sink down into a hole at her words, regretting her choices immediately. But, it wasn't like swapping herself and the feline hero would make things any better.

"Ahem," Adrien cleared his throat to pull the focus away from the embarrassed girl. That didn't mean he wasn't embarrassed to a degree. He just found out that one of his closest friends would be willing to marry him…or rather, the other him…but still him. Did that choice have anything to do with the kiss? Adrien's cheeks burned with a red fervor that he prayed went over the other's heads. "I, um…uh…I guess it's my turn?" he chimed in.

"You know it, bro," Nino piped up, eager to hear the model's picks, "Let's hear 'em!"

"Well…I don't like the idea of killing people, or death in general…even if he is a bad guy," Adrien shrugged, rubbing the back of his neck as he appeared lost in thought, "So I'll kill Hawkmoth—but just because this is a game."

"Gotcha, that's cool," Nino nodded, processing the information with a mellow look on his tan face, "So who's the lucky hero you'd bang?"

Adrien swallowed hard as he looked down at his hands on his knees. Of course, he felt awkward about the fact that he had to assign his lady and himself in this game…but he'd rather get it over with and suffer from embarrassment later.

"Ch-Chat Noir," the blond gulped, "So then I'd...uh…I-I-I'd marry Ladybug."

"That was a no-brainer," Alya giggled, "Remember, _I_ snapped the viral photo of you and Ladybug smooching up a storm."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," the model smiled through his teeth, wanting the topic of conversation to change as soon as possible.

During Adrien and Alya's exchange, the warm and bubbly feeling returned to Marinette. How could she not feel all ooey and gooey after hearing that the amazing boy she had feelings for would marry her? Sure, he was thinking of Ladybug when he made the decision, but Marinette didn't mind because she _was_ Ladybug, which meant Adrien wanted to marry her regardless of the mask because Marinette was Ladybug with or without it. Although, Alya's idea of wearing the ladybug-print bikini had proved to, in a way, enhance her confidence around the blond the way her transformation did.

"Next round!" Nino cheered, splashing water about as he raised his arms in the air.

"Ooh, let's do us…like each person does MFK out of the other three," Alya suggested with a bubbly tone in her voice.

"Wait, like, us as in _us_ us?" Nino thought aloud before he received a curt nod and wink from the blogger, "Okay, Alya, then you go first-"

"Marry Marinette, 'cause she's my girl, 'f' Nino—duh—and sorry, Agreste, but I'm putting you down," the brunette smirked after she speedily wasted no time in declaring her place-holders.

"O-Okay…" Nino swallowed hard as he tore his stunned gaze away from Alya, clearing his throat before he continued. "Let's see…I'll marry my boy, Adrien," the DJ bumped fists with the grinning blond to his right, "Yeah! Bros before ho-okay, you get it. Als, why don't we pretend like we haven't… _ya know_ …so I'll 'f' you, babe. But, since you killed my best bud, I'll kill off yours—no offense, M."

"None taken," Marinette smiled, fighting back that laughter that begged to be released upon her friends' antics, "So, my turn?" The other three enthusiastically bobbed their heads 'yes' and gestured for her to go on. "I'd marry Adrien, 'f' Alya, and kill Nino because he killed me," the blue-haired girl spouted without hesitation, not realizing how effortlessly she came up with her answers.

"Yo, you can't kill me!" Nino piped up, a joking pout written in the creases of his false frown, "I already killed you first."

"Well, then I'll haunt you and curse you with my clumsiness," Marinette huffed as she folded her arms and turned up her nose, "But, when you least expect it, I'll get you from beyond the grave!"

Alya giggled at the two, watching as they went back and forth about how they would kill each other—all in a friendly banter, of course. Adrien's emerald eyes followed Nino and Marinette's bicker as well, forcing a chuckle to resound from his throat that felt strangely dry all of a sudden. He found himself watching Marinette more so than his best friend, his stare lingering to all parts of her visible form. The blond didn't think it was perverted, more like he was just observing Marinette in a way he had never seen before. He had to admit, she was beautiful…inside and out.

"Okay, golden boy, don't think you got out of your turn," Alya grinned, leaning in closer as if that would pressure him into revealing his picks, "Who would you wed?"

"Heh, well, since Nino married me, I guess I'll marry him, too," Adrien laughed as he swung an arm over the brunet's shoulder.

"And…?" Alya chided, "Who's next?"

The model lifted his green eyes to look at Marinette for a brief moment before gulping and averting his attention. He stared down into his lap, swallowing a lump that formed in his dry throat and his face burned scarlet. Keeping his focus on the water and his lap, he mumbled his answer incoherently.

"What was that?" Alya smirked, practically reading his distress but choosing to force the name out of him.

"M-Marinette," he spoke just above a whisper that was barely registered by the other teenagers. When Adrien looked around the circle at his friends with anticipation laced in their eager expressions, he figured they didn't hear him still. "I said I'd have sex with Marinette," the blond somewhat shouted.

Adrien clamped a hand over his mouth as his eyes grew comically wide with embarrassment and shock at his own word vomit. He didn't dare steal a glance at Marinette, but just the thought of her reaction to his outburst made his cheeks simmer.

However, had Adrien looked up at Marinette, he would've seen her internally combust. The girl's face was just as red, if not more so, than his with a thousand thoughts bubbling in her brain. Of course, all of her confidence fled her system— _Adrien freaking Agreste_ said he'd 'get down' with her, so to speak.

Forget that other girl Adrien supposedly kissed; Marinette couldn't care less. The fact that the blond was willing to do _it_ with her vanquished all traces of jealousy that had simmered in her body before. After all, a kiss was nothing compared to _that_. Okay, so Marinette—Ladybug—and Adrien shared a kiss as well…but, still.

There was no possible way that Marinette could speak up and not cheer the word 'yes'. She didn't trust her voice to spew out anything, even if it was fragments of a gibberish while sporting cherry cheeks. The blue-haired girl debated thanking Adrien, but how would that turn out? How weird and awkward would that be?

 _Wow, thanks, Adrien! It means so much to me that you'd 'f' me and I can't believe that you are willing to!_ Yeah…that wouldn't go down very well.

Alya's bikini idea couldn't save Marinette's silver tongue that turned to lead. Luckily, another's voice shrilled out, saving the bluenette from having to speak up.

"What the-" Nino jerked his head to the side to see where the terror-laced scream came from.

Alya chimed in with equal curiosity, secretly nudging Marinette's arm which pulled her out of her mile-a-minute thoughts. While the two boys were spinning their heads around, looking for the source of the scream, several more voices yelled out in fear in the same direction as the first. The blogger elbowed Marinette harder this time, fully grasping her attention. The bluenette let her bluebell orbs meet Alya's urgent hazel eyes and read between the lines.

"I'll cover you— _go_ ," the brunette whispered before turning to distract the guys.

Marinette gave a curt nod and brought herself to her feet, slowly marching through the pool water's resistance. While she was moving rather quickly for her calves and lower being submerged under liquid, she wasn't the quietest. Marinette's escape from the group proved quite noisy as she began splashing water in every which way as she made a beeline for her beach bag.

"Marinette!" a voice called out in panic that stopped the fleeing girl in her tracks. She craned her head around to see Adrien standing up and making his way towards her. God, if he wasn't so handsome and caring, Marinette would've kept on going. But this was Adrien…the boy she loved with all her heart. She couldn't just flat-out ignore him. "Where are you going? It's not safe!"

"I-I-I, um, have to…something," Marinette stammered as she stepped out of the pool, "Sorry—can't wait!"

"I'll go with you," Adrien offered, drawing nearer to the blue-haired girl. He had nothing but concern and kindness painted in his emerald eyes and that made Marinette's heart flutter.

"Yes thanks—I mean, no please—I mean-" Marinette couldn't get the words out, much like how she couldn't get out of there. Saying 'no' to Adrien was way harder than she imagined it would be.

"You shouldn't be going anywhere alone," the model remarked with assertiveness in his tone, "I really should go with you; there could be an akumatized victim out there and I would hate to see you get hurt."

He already knew that Hawkmoth had taken possession of another civilian and he knew that he had to transform. However, he couldn't let his friend go out alone; he had to take care of Marinette and her classic Marinette stubbornness…Adrien thought she could be pretty adorable when she was stubborn. What was he thinking? No—he had to get her to safety, _all of his friends_ to safety.

"N-No…I, uh, have to go alone because…" the bluenette attempted to assure with a slight tremble in her voice. She shook her head and twiddled her fingers as she tried to think of something to say. All that played over in her head, though, were Adrien's last spoken words: 'I would hate to see you get hurt.' Her heart ached because while she didn't want to worry him, he couldn't know her secret. The last thing Marinette wanted to see was Adrien getting caught in the crossfire and being put in danger because of her. She cared too much about him to see him get hurt because of her doing; Marinette could pretty much just repeat the blond's words back to him. "Because…I need to go do... _excuse…_ alone."

"I still don't think you should go alone," Adrien persisted, climbing out of the pool to stand next to the frantic school girl, "Like I said before, it's not safe for you to."

"I…Alya," Marinette looked to her friend for assistance, practically begging for help to go take care of whatever mess Hawkmoth—with Chloe's help, most likely—made this time.

The aspiring journalist's face lit up with alertness as she pulled herself up to her feet and marched over to the blond. She folded her arms and jutted one hip out to the side after tapping Adrien's shoulder repetitively. Finally, the model whipped his head around to face the brunette, slightly annoyed that she was keeping him from protecting Marinette.

"Adrien, let the lady take care of what she needs to do in peace," Alya scolded, poking a finger at his bare chest every syllable to annunciate her words.

"But I should go with Marinette to make sure she's safe," the blond countered, gesturing to the blue-haired girl behind him, but not turning to look at her slowly creeping away.

"Ah, ta, ta! Shoosh," the blogger silenced him by pressing her fingers to thumb to represent a mouth closing, "Marinette's a big girl. She can handle herself, trust me…I've seen her in action."

"Okay, but what could Marinette possibly need to do that someone can't go with her—like the buddy system. Marinette should have a buddy and I think I should be her buddy to with her to keep her safe," Adrien insisted, his eyes sparkling with cries of 'please' and 'I need to watch over her'.

Adrien didn't know why he all of a sudden felt so protective of Marinette; perhaps it was the fact that they recently shared an intimate moment.

Alya's eyes trailed over to Marinette as she started tip-toeing to her beach bag which she slung over her shoulder, not bothering to slip on the cover-up again. The brunette had to think quickly and the first thing that popped in her mind was Marinette's apparent go-to excuse.

"She has an emergency she needs to take care of," Alya lied, her slight body language and eyes telling Marinette she was clear to go, which she did.

As Adrien stared blankly at the brunette in the black bikini, Marinette fled down the windy path and out of sight. Alya's eyes followed the blur of red and black spots dash away for a place to transform before meeting Adrien's stare again. This time, she took note of the genuine worry mixed with confusion etched in his eyes.

"What kind of emergency requires Marinette to be alone?" the blond sputtered out, tossing his arms up in the air out of confusion.

"It's a…feminine emergency," Alya replied casually.

Now she understood why Marinette always excused herself because of that. Of course, the blue-head's logic was that no one would question her reason to break off from the group, but that didn't mean Alya couldn't question why Marinette's cycle was always out of whack. The brunette proudly placed her hands on her hips and flashed a cheesy grin at Adrien, satisfied with her first time covering for Marinette.

Unfortunately, Adrien's face remained expressionless as his confusion appeared unfazed at the blogger's words. To him, 'feminine emergency' could mean anything relating to what girls do…but he swore he heard those exact words used before…

"You know what I mean, right?" Alya asked, not completely sure if the model had caught on, "Shark week, Aunt Flo, painting the town red, the dam breaking on Satan's sacrificial waterfall-"

"I get it!" Adrien interrupted, scrunching his face up in disgust. Then a memory from a night not too long ago resurfaced in his brain. "Oh, that's right…I totally forgot Marinette already said that at the dance."

"What do you mean?" the aspiring journalist questioned.

"As I was leaving the bathroom that night, I ran into Marinette coming out of the girls' room across the way. She told me the same thing about her…uh…emergency. That was right before we found you and Nino in the closet that we were locked in before, haha," Adrien laughed at the memory.

"Why were you in the bathroom?" Alya's reporter instincts kicked in, curious to hear the details from a perspective other than Marinette's, but she also wanted distract Adrien long enough for Marinette to transform.

"I, um, had to fix my…hair. Gotta keep up that high-maintenance model hair, right?" the blond joked after coming up with an excuse that seemed believable enough for being in the bathroom. After all, he _did_ have to fix his hair to go back to polished Adrien's and not bedhead Chat's.

" _Really_ …?" the brunette pondered aloud, tapping a finger to her chin as she peered at the model, "Well, I think we should all get to safety so why don't we-"

"Wait! Marinette's gone!" Adrien shrilled as he spun around several times to scope out for the bluenette, but to no avail.

His heartbeat picked up the pace, sounding like the drums in a marching band playing with a speedy beat. Adrenaline kicked in as he desperately tried to spot Marinette from the pool's edge. He _had_ to make sure she was safe. He _had_ to protect her because he…because he…because she was his friend.

As much as the blond wanted to go off searching for his blue-haired classmate, he knew his heroic duty came first. If Adrien transformed into Chat Noir, then he could go fight alongside Ladybug to take care of the akumatized victim and return everything to normal, guaranteeing Marinette's safety. The model calmed himself by taking in and letting out steady breaths as his eyes fluttered shut. Adrien just had to center himself and get his act together before running off to transform.

"I need to go to the bathroom," Adrien smiled at Alya, scratching the back of his head, "You and Nino should get somewhere out of harm's way and I'll catch up."

With that, Adrien turned on his heel and bolted away down the same path Marinette had a few moments earlier, but not before grabbing a duffel bag similar to his fencing bag and slinging it over his shoulder. Alya was left puzzled at the blond's sudden switch in demeanor, her hazel eyes trailing after him as he disappeared behind the greenery that hid the sidewalk. The brunette tried to string together Adrien's weird behavior just then along with everything he had said today so far.

For starters, Nino mentioned Adrien believed a girl kissed him because of her period…and Adrien also claimed he knew Marinette was on her cycle because that was what she told him when they ran into each other leaving the bathrooms on Miraculous Day. Marinette told Alya that Adrien said he was in the restroom because he had a bad cupcake, but that didn't make sense because the Dupain-Cheng Bakery provided the baked goods and they are always top notch quality.

However, Adrien just now said he was in the bathroom to fix his hair—why would he give two completely different answers for his excuse of being in the boy's room? But, going back to the mystery girl who kissed him, Adrien was sure it was her 'shark week', too, and that was maybe why she had kissed him. Marinette used the excuse of her period pretty often for when she needed to transform into her superheroine persona. The other night, Marinette also told Alya how she had to use that same excuse for changing out of her Ladybug dress at the dance when she ran into Adrien…so Adrien had the idea that it was Marinette's time of the month…but what are the chances that both of them were missing when Ladybug and Chat Noir dropped in? Alya knew Marinette was Ladybug, but where did Adrien place in all of this?

Going back to Friday, Adrien couldn't have kissed Ladybug on Miraculous Day because that happened the day after. Although, while Ladybug didn't kiss anyone on Thursday, Marinette _did_. Marinette kissed Chat Noir after he kissed her twice when he came to her window all heartbroken. It wasn't typical for a girl to openly share with guys about her time of the month, but Marinette did share that with Adrien as an excuse…and Alya found it hard to believe that another girl would freely tell Adrien she was on her cycle. It would make sense if Marinette kissed Adrien, but she didn't because she kissed Chat Noir…unless…

Alya's reporter-type thinking was interrupted when she saw her best friend, clad head to toe in red and black spots, fling herself above the pool and across the nearby building tops. Not even a few moments later, a blur of black raced by following the same path in the sky as Ladybug. Chat Noir landed on the same roof as the spotted heroine had and pole-vaulted with his baton to catch up with his lady.

The blogger smiled as she watched Ladybug dance across the Paris skyline, hardly paying attention to the blond cat-boy. Well, she wasn't paying attention until she took in how they came from the same direction. Ladybug came from the trees and shrubs near the gate of the pool, where Marinette had gone to transform, and Chat Noir seemingly appeared from the same place.

Alya _watched_ Marinette scurry down the path with her beach bag that hid her kwami. Alya also _watched_ Adrien dash down the same path with his bag to go to the bathroom…but the bathroom was in the opposite direction, unless he didn't know that. And why would a teenage boy need to take a bag with him to use the toilet?

The brunette's eyes grew as wide as saucers as her jaw unhinged and hit the pavement at her feet. Her hazel stare burned into Chat Noir as he bounded over rooftops and out of sight, following his every move while he followed after Ladybug.

"I wonder what that was all about with Adrien," Nino chuckled in curiosity as he climbed the steps out of the pool to join the blogger's side and watch the duo run off to battle, "I mean, that was weird…right, Alya? Um, Als?"

The DJ waved a hand in front of the tan girl's face which was unmoved by the action. Her gaze remained focused on the small blur of black that faded into the distance, unfazed by her surroundings.

"Alya? Hello, you in there?" Nino tried again, but failed to get a response from the brunette.

"Oh. My. God," Alya finally spoke up, her voice barely above a whisper that was buzzing with shock and disbelief.

* * *

 **Phew! That was a doozy to write...I feel bad about this kinda being a cliffhanger and I honestly have no idea when my next update will be depending on school. I'll leave you with whatever Alya is flipping out over, though. ;)**

 **Thank you again so much, darlings, for taking the time to read my work. It would be super amazing for you to also leave a review about what you like, what you don't like, what you want to see happen, and any predictions you have for future chapters. I love reading what you lovelies have to say! While you're at it, why don't you follow and favorite this story, too? That way you'll know when I update...depending on how long that takes. ;)**

 **Until next chapter, toodles! :D**


	31. Chapter 31: Checkmate

Hello, beautiful people! Well, it has certainly been a long time. Long story short, Season 2 kinda messed with my story. (Yes, this is now officially an AU set after Season 1, by the way.) Before Season 2 premiered, I had drafted several chapters, but, to my dismay, before I could finish writing them and post them, Season 2 came out and my plot and akumatized victims and fight scenes and so on were too much like what was canon. I didn't want to deal with being called a _copycat_ so I basically rewrote everything.

Also, high school is hell and I am doing my best to navigate it well...that meaning, a lot of my time has gone into schoolwork which is probably relatable for a portion of you lovelies. On top of that, guess what? I've been sick, like really sick...yay. I told myself, 'Hey, while I'm missing weeks of school at a time, I can finally get to write!' Right? Wrong. I guess parents don't like it when teenagers stare at a screen instead of resting and recovering, haha! XD

Anyway, enjoy the long-awaited Chapter 31! :3

* * *

 **Chapter 31**

* * *

"Lucky charm!" Ladybug called out as she flung her yo-yo in the air. Immediately following her voice, a swarm of ladybugs and a blur of pink light swirled up the string in unison until they all burst together and faded out above the park. A red and black-spotted object fell from the sky and landed neatly in the superheroine's awaiting hands. "A pen?" she questioned as she studied the small writing utensil.

"I hope you know what you plan on doing with that," Chat Noir yelled in Ladybug's direction with a strained voice as he dodged the slew of civilians charging at him. How unoriginal that the akumatized victim used the citizens of Paris as her pawns…quite literally. In the black-clad hero's opinion, mind-control was horribly overused. "I'm de- _pen-_ ding on you, M'Lady!"

Ladybug groaned and rolled her eyes at her partner's quip, but went back to staring at the spotted object in her hand. How could a pen help defeat a champion chess player that lost a match for the first time? The spotted girl's attention was forced to the checkered, young woman with a queen piece as her hat. The clock on her belt clicked, causing her to smirk as she pointed at Chat.

"My move now, little kitty," the akumatized woman snickered as the sea of Parisians began pinning him down to the pavement of the street they fought in, "Get ready to kiss your miraculous 'goodbye'. Check!"

Chat Noir squirmed under the hold of the civilians around him who all wore pawn pieces on their heads like helmets. One person managed to swipe the cat-boy's baton and toss it to the side, far from the blond's reach.

"You might wanna use that lucky charm now!" Chat belted, still thrashing about at the copious people that kept him tethered to the ground, "I don't have my staff anymore!"

"I'm thinking!" Ladybug shouted back as she squeezed her eyes shut to concentrate, "Okay, here's the plan: we run her down for now…trick her…then we move in. Got it?" The red-clad heroine watched from a safe distance how her partner fought against the mind-controlled citizens. She wanted to go help him, but that would mean putting herself at risk for getting overpowered, too. As harsh as it seemed, Ladybug knew she had to focus on purifying the akuma before saving Chat Noir. Besides, the blue-haired heroine knew he could take care of himself.

"Got it! But how? I'm unarmed!" Chat hollered, starting to somewhat effectively push the mass of pawns off.

"Remember what Master Fu taught us," Ladybug winked back at Chat before charging at the akumatized victim. As the red-clad superheroine neared the girl in the checkerboard suit, she looked over her shoulder to see her partner perform one of the hand-to-hand combat moves they had both learned to free himself completely and join Ladybug by her side. The duo took cover by crouching behind a park bench, temporarily hiding from the chaos to strategize.

"One flaw in your plan, M'Ladybug," Chat began, "That timer on her belt…it's 'her move', meaning we can't affect her with our attacks until it goes off again. That's not for another forty-five seconds, at least!"

"You underestimate me, Chat, and after all this time," Ladybug flashed him the pen in her spotted hand and smirked as the two heroes continued on their run to chase after the akumatized victim, "My kitty should know better than anyone that my plans never have room for flaws."

The cat-boy would be lying if he said he wasn't impressed. His lady was a smart girl, and he trusted her with his life, so of course she had the perfect plan; that didn't mean she would ever stop impressing him with her intelligent eyes…those kind, beautifully blue eyes that he got lost at sea in because Ladybug's eyes were deep and mysterious like the ocean. Not only were his partner's eyes beautiful, but so was the rest of her. Especially when he got to watch her carry out one of her brilliant plans. Why, just the way her body moved as she would…no! Chat Noir could not be thinking about Ladybug like _that_ and now, of all times. How did he go from admiring her smart tactics to admiring her physical features again?

"Oh, um, yes. _Y-Your_ _kitty_ knows more than better," the blond nearly choked as he attempted to clear his mind of his not-so-innocent thoughts he had previously dwelling in the deeper corners of his mind not even a moment ago.

The last thing he needed was to think about the heated kiss he shared with her. Nope, too late. The memory flooded his thoughts to the point of no return and he instantly felt…hot. Perhaps it was from all the running he had been doing throughout the streets of Paris to catch up to the akumatized girl. The black-clad hero knew he had to clear his current thoughts of the image and touch and smell and taste of that kiss that burned so strongly in his mind's eye that the memory was branded on his brain. Chat cleared his throat to, once again, focus on the task at hand.

"So, I assume that pen is going to help us?" _Wow. That was totally the best thing to say, you idiot_ , Chat scolded himself refusing to meet Ladybug's confused gaze upon him, _Of course the pen is going to help us! That's what lucky charms do, after all! Now you've done it, you stupid stray, she's totally gonna think you're a lame loser who shouldn't even be fighting by her side!_

"Yes, Chat Noir, how on earth did you know my lucky charm was going to help?" Ladybug giggled with playful sarcasm laced in her light voice, "You see, her attacks and defense depend on that timer she wears on her belt. So, I was thinking that we emulate the timer's 'click' with the pen's to trick her into thinking that she can't defend herself or attack us anymore."

"Once again, you have proven to me that you _do_ have a brain in that pretty little head of yours," Chat purred, smirking at the blue-haired heroine.

"Aw, you think I'm pretty!" the spotted girl cooed with false sincerity and another one of her deadly winks that tore through the cat-boy's heart.

 _I think you're so much more than pretty, M'Lady_ , Chat Noir hummed in his mind with a faint smile until the corners of his lips momentarily twitched into a frown, _But, I can't tell you how beautiful you are and have you take me seriously when I'm like this. Why do you only like me as Adrien? Why can't you like me as Chat, too? Why can't your partner be more than a partner to you? Why can't Chat be more to you? What made you chose Adrien over Chat? WHY CAN'T YOU TAKE ME, CHAT NOIR, SERIOUSLY WHEN I TELL YOU THAT YOU'RE PRETTY?_

The blond superhero saw Ladybug's lips moving, but heard no words flitter through the air to his ears. He could see that she was speaking to him and growing annoyed that he wasn't responding. Chat Noir wanted nothing more than to break the dam that held his questions back because in that moment he realized something. In that little exchange, similar to ones the pair always shared, he realized something heartbreaking.

Ladybug liked Adrien, not Chat Noir. _No_ , the blond told himself, _I am Adrien. Adrien is Chat Noir, meaning Ladybug likes Chat if she likes Adrien. Dammit, Agreste, stop getting jealous of yourself!_

"Chat!" Ladybug chirped again, snapping her fingers before his glazed-over eyes. The black-clad hero shook his head free of the thoughts, though the ache in his chest still lingered. "Hey, are you with me? I asked if you were okay to let me create the diversion this time while you sneak up close enough with the pen and then I'll swipe the object from behind. Okay?"

The bluenette's forehead creased with worry, wondering what caused her partner to be so out of it. However, as soon as she recaptured his attention, his face lit up with determination and the sinking feeling in her chest dissipated.

"Sorry, sorry, I'm with you," Chat Noir looked down to his knees, then rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment, "I just…have a lot on my mind, that's all."

"I know how you feel," the spotted heroine placed a comforting hand on the blond's shoulder with a soft smile graced at her lips. Then, her face grew unreadable while her voice became stern and urgent, "But I need you focused. Just for right now, you need to forget what's troubling you so we can save our city. Remember you said the same thing to me a while back when I was in your shoes? You're twice as strong as me, mentally and physically, so I know you can push through this in order to do your job. Do I have to go over the plan again?"

Chat Noir gulped as he stared in to Ladybug's somewhat cold eyes; her beautiful blue eyes that seemed equally troubled as his, her big, blue eyes that seemingly turned to steel…stop!

 _I can't get distracted. I can't let my mind wander to her. Save Paris,_ the cat-boy scolded himself. If his lady believed in him to get the job done, then he would get the job done.

"I sneak up with the pen to trick her while you create a distraction so I can get close and then—WAIT!" Chat's eyes bulged out as he looked like he was a deer caught in headlights, "There is no way I'm letting you risk yourself like that to be the diversion! Let me instead because I can't bear to see you get hurt and-"

"Chat. I can take care of myself just fine. But can I count on you?" Ladybug extended her gloved hand out that held the red and black-spotted pen to him. She already knew she could count on her partner, but she wanted him to know he can count on himself, too.

Every so often, Ladybug or Chat Noir would get out of it during a battle with one of Hawkmoth's victims. Whether it be the stress of the job or life as civilians, there had been a handful of times where one of the two had to be stern with the other in order to set aside said stress and purify the akuma. It was their game of cat and mouse, depending on whomever was feeling plagued with inner turmoil…or rather, their game of cat and _ladybug_.

Chat's emerald orbs flickered to the writing utensil being offered to him and, pushing away the bubbling feelings regarding his love life with Ladybug, took the pen in his clawed hand. He gave a curt nod while a smirk played at his lips, a sign that he was feeling back to his regular self. One exchange of knowing glances later, the cat-boy leapt from behind the bench and started down his path to reach the akumatized girl. Ladybug mirrored her partner's actions, heading off in the opposite direction to create the diversion.

Chat Noir stopped dead in his tracks and spun around to watch the spotted heroine slipping away. He raised the red and black pen up in the air and twirled it between his claws as he called out to Ladybug loud enough that she could hear him, but not Hawkmoth's latest victim.

"Hey, M'Lady," the blonde hollered, causing Ladybug to whip her head around in alarm, "No need to _pen-_ sion me, my head's in the game now!" With a satisfactory smirk, Chat Noir gripped the polka-dotted pen tightly and set foot back on his path before his lady could say anything in response.

Ladybug simply rolled her eyes and shook her head as she watched that silly, ally cat sneak off, unable to keep the corners of her mouth from turning upwards. She had to admit, her kitty was pretty clever to be so quick-witted. The spotted heroin shook her head free of the fuzzy feeling growing in her chest as she made her way to where the akumatized chess player stood, remembering she had to focus on that task at hand. She was partly speaking to herself about getting the job done while she and Chat had their 'pep talk' because of the whole Adrien ordeal. The bluenette would just have to push through her civilian struggles like she told Chat Noir to in order to purify the akuma.

Ladybug leapt out of her hiding space, charging at the akumatized girl head-on. She flung her yo-yo at the fountain's statue, behind the checkered victim, and swung herself around. Ladybug's heels aimed to strike the chess player's ribs, however an invisible force blocked the spotted heroine from ever making contact with her opponent. Instead, the red-clad girl tumbled to the ground.

"Stupid bug," the akumatized victim cackled as she pointed to her belt, "It's still my turn for another forty seconds. That means you can't get me…but I can get you. What do you say you hand over your miraculous and accept your defeat?"

"Like how you accepted yours?" Ladybug countered, starting to push herself off of the fountain's pavement platform. She paid no attention to the cracks the impact of her fall left beneath her since everything would be restored once the akuma was purified. However, midway through recovering from her fall, a weight pushed Ladybug down to the ground again. Her bluebell eyes looked up to see the akumatized girl pressing her foot into Ladybug's back, making it difficult to get a breath of air.

Chat Noir watched from a distance, waiting for his lady's signal to use the lucky charm that they were granted. When he saw her get smacked down into the pavement and then _stood on_ , he tried his hardest to bite his tongue and not cry out for her. This was what he hated about her being the distraction in one of their battles. The blond couldn't stand seeing the love of his life get tossed around and beat up like some kind of punching bag.

After what felt like minutes of torture having to watch Ladybug suffer, which in actuality was a mere few seconds, her eyes darted to his figure creeping up slowly behind the akumatized girl. Ladybug gave Chat a wink and he responded with flashing a toothy grin he hoped hid the fear for her safety in his emerald eyes.

"Say, what's black, white, and red all over, M'Ladybug?" Chat chirped, startling the chess player and causing her to spin around with a look of shock on her face. He grasped onto the red and black-spotted pen behind his back, hidden from the akumatized victim's view.

"Gee, Chat, I don't know," Ladybug smirked eyes switching between her partner and her opponent, "What _is_ black, white, and red all over?"

"What is this? What are you doing?" the akumatized girl questioned, the eminent anger boiling in her voice, "Why are you making jokes?"

"Well, Ladybug, since you asked so kindly," the cat-boy began, ignoring Hawkmoth's victim and readying his claw on the pen's button, "The answer is Miss Sore Loser, over here, after she gets angry when she realizes she's been defeated, that it."

"Ugh, enough of this! Pawns!" the chess player screeched as a mob of the civilians with chess pieces on their heads came charging at them from all sides.

Suddenly, a loud click filled the air and the akumatized girl froze in surprise. The army of pawns came to a halt and stood stock-still in a perfect circle around the duo and Hawkmoth's champion. The chess player whipped her head around in confusion to make sense of what just happened, alleviating the pressure of her hold on Ladybug.

"Checkmate," the cat-boy quipped with a smirk.

"W-Wait, it's not my turn? It can't be your turn!" the akumatized girl cried out, seething, "No! No, no, no! I can't do anything? But, that's not fair!"

Absorbed in her tantrum and hesitation, the akumatized chess player failed to hear Chat Noir cry out 'cataclysm' and turn the queen piece on her head to ash. Ladybug took advantage of the moment to reach behind her head and grab the girl's leg that somewhat hovered above her spotted back. She yanked it forward and turned her body at the same time to send the akumatized victim crashing to the pavement alongside Ladybug. However, the red-clad heroine popped off the ground in a split-second, simultaneously unhooking her yo-yo to capture the akuma that startled to flutter away.

"Time to de-evilize!" Ladybug flicked her yo-yo at the dark wings slicing through the air, entrapping it within a white light. Upon opening the spotted device again, a purely white butterfly floated out and vanished into the afternoon, Parisian skyline. "Bye, bye, little butterfly," the blue-haired heroine exclaimed, a wave of relief washing over her.

Chat Noir tossed the pen to Ladybug, who managed to catch it without looking in his direction, then proceeded to hurl the object into the clouds. "Miraculous ladybug!" the spotted girl called out as the pen burst into surges of shimmering ladybugs that swirled around the city to restore Paris to its former beauty.

The pawn pieces on the civilians' heads disappeared, leaving a confused mass of people scattered around the park. Ladybug surveyed the area to make certain that everyone was back to normal when she remembered the chess player. She helped the girl stand upright, a tad anxious that she still seemed dizzy, but relaxed upon seeing the chess player's parents rushed over and took care of the girl from there.

Knowing everything was hale and hearty, Ladybug turned to face Chat Noir with a smile gracing her lips. She was met to see his fist already outstretched, so she returned the gesture, bringing there knuckles together.

"Pound it," they both rejoiced in unison. The duo held the pose for longer than usual, their eyes staying locked on each other's as if they were searching for something. The blue sky met the green meadow and it felt… _right_. There was peace and happiness, yet while it felt right, it also felt… _deceitful_ …

Chat quickly pulled away, his eyes sinking downward to trace the groves of his boots. The feelings he pushed to the back of his mind and heart came flooding back like a tidal wave that rushed to the forefront of his thoughts. The blond just needed a minute to collect himself, yes, that was all.

"Chat? Are you okay?" Ladybug asked, placing a hand on his shoulder. He tensed at her touch, but of course he eased into her presence. "You were pretty out of it back there…do you wanna talk about it? I still have a few minutes before I change back—as do you."

The black-clad superhero lifted his head up to look at his lady and couldn't help but smile brightly at her. What he wouldn't give to hold her and kiss her senseless again; but he couldn't do that while he was Chat…he could only be with his lady when he's Adrien. While painful for him, it was a small price to pay if it meant being with her at all.

"Look…if this is about what happened at the dance…" Chat Noir realized he never said anything in return and left Ladybug to wonder what had occupied his mind on the battlefield. Come to think of it, she looked pretty unnerved once she brought up the dance.

"No, no, no…it's just…um…my dad has been kind of _gah_ lately, you know? Heh," the cat-boy stammered to make up an excuse.

He didn't want to worry Ladybug that what happened at the dance _was_ what troubled him, in a way, that is. While the actual events on Miraculous Day no longer bothered him since he found out he was the 'someone else' Ladybug told him about, the events that took place afterwards were what tortured him. How would he be supposed to maintain a platonic relationship with the girl he would be dating and kissing and cuddling? All the while, she wouldn't know her boyfriend is secretly her partner, which would be pretty much lying to her face. Chat knew how much his lady hated lies…hold up, where did dating and boyfriends and girlfriends come from? They haven't even decided on what they were yet!

"Wait, I thought you didn't have a family? Like you didn't have a home?" Ladybug questioned, a confused look etched into her features. She recalled the other night when Chat told her as Marinette that he didn't have a home to go back to. The bluenette sensed a fabrication somewhere in Chat Noir's story, but couldn't specify where. If he was lying to her, it wouldn't upset Ladybug as much being that it would be to protect his identity. However, the idea of her partner lying to her face, whether as Ladybug or Marinette, made her uneasy.

"What? When did I say that? Huh…well, that's not true, haha," the black-clad hero searched his memory for when he ever even mentioned a detail of what was left of his family or any part of his personal life for that matter. Speaking of family, that reminded Chat of what his father asked him to do. "Oh, I almost forgot! I have a message to pass on to you, M'Lady!" Chat Noir beamed as he placed him hands on his hips excitedly.

"Go on," Ladybug giggled at her partner's antics.

"I was asked to invite you to dinner at the Agreste Manor tomorrow, on Monday, from five until eight at night. Dress nicely, but then again, you always look lovely," he paused to throw Ladybug a wink before continuing, "Basically, Mr. Agreste wants to meet you formally and see how you and Adrien are together…you know, overprotective and controlling and what-not."

"Wait, wait, wait, pause. You know Adrien Agreste?" the red-clad superheroine looked dumbfounded as she stared at Chat Noir.

"Uh, yeah. Yeah, I know him and Gabriel personally," the blond spewed out, hoping that was a convincing enough, "I mean, Gabriel is the one who asked me to deliver the message to you…he's actually 'quite pleased' you and Adrien are a couple."

"H-He said we're a c-c-couple?" Ladybug partly stuttered, partly squealed with delight as she mused about herself and the blond model together.

"Well, not exactly…that's more of what Adrien is hoping for…?" Chat conveyed in an attempt to draw the conversation away from his alter-ego, but instead epically failed.

"Oh my gosh! This is probably the best day ever!" the blue-haired heroine leapt up and down with glee before remembering she had to be Ladybug at the moment. She composed herself and cleared her throat, much to Chat's amusement of seeing a different side of her. "Ahem. Well, the dinner plans sound lovely and I will definitely be there. I'm looking forward to it."

"You really like him, don't you?" the blond couldn't stop himself from asking.

Ladybug looked like a deer caught in headlights, not prepared for Chat's words. Of course, she then relaxed her face and her stance as she mused about Adrien.

"Well, yes…I mean, I more than like him…I have for a long time," Ladybug wrapped herself in her arms as she looked to the ground, "I mean, he never really noticed me outside of being Ladybug, but then I found out he does like me—well, _this_ me, but that's okay since I'm still me no matter. Anyway, I think it might actually be love, like, we might love each other…unless that's just me…" she paused to look up at Chat's face to see his cat-like eyes wide, his jaw dropped, and his cheeks dusted pink. "Oh, gosh. I totally forgot about—are you—um…are you sure you're okay? With _everything_? I mean, me and Adrien? I was really harsh to you back at the dance because of the truth beam and that wasn't exactly the nicest way to let someone down and-"

"Ladybug, you're rambling," Chat Noir chuckled as he gently grasped the bluenette by her red and black-spotted shoulders. _She's so cute when she rambles...who else do I know that does that again?_ The cat-boy flashed Ladybug an assuring smile before continuing, "I'm totally, completely fine. I'm better than fine, actually. I'm really happy for you and Adrien, LB, honest."

A rapid beeping filled the empty silence between them, causing both to snap out of gazing into each other's eyes yet again. Ladybug took several steps back, exhaling a deep breath she didn't realize she was holding in. Her brilliantly blue orbs sparkled up at Chat Noir's vibrant green, a silent 'goodbye' exchanged between the two.

Ladybug whipped out her yo-yo and cast it out to the surrounding building tops. Once it latched on, she gave the cording a tug and was hoisted into the air and out of Chat's view. The blond was left alone in the park, as everyone else who was under the akumatized victim's influence had left after the battle. Then, just then, Chat Noir remembered something Ladybug said amidst her rambling: 'he never really noticed me outside of being Ladybug'.

 _You've_ got _to be shitting me._

* * *

 **I will be honest, I have no idea when the next update will be. It all depends on my health and academics,** ** _oh joy_** **! :|**

 **Anyhoo, thank you again so much, you darling lads and lassies, for taking the time to read my work. It would be super amazing for you to also leave a review about what you like, what you don't like, what you want to see happen, and any predictions you have for future chapters. I love reading what you lovelies have to say! While you're at it, why don't you follow and favorite this story, too? That way you'll know when I update...depending on how long that takes. ;)**

 **Until next chapter, toodles! :D**

 **P.S.** ** _GUYS! IT HAS BEEN ONE YEAR SINCE I FIRST STARTED PUBLISHING MY WRITING (a.k.a. "Miraculous Day") AHH! Okay, bye._**


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